Quantum Confinement in Graphene Quantum Dots

  • 5 March 2009
Abstract
We demonstrate that excited states in single-layer graphene quantum dots can be detected via direct transport experiments. Coulomb diamond measurements show distinct features of sequential tunneling through an excited state. Moreover, the onset of inelastic co-tunneling in the diamond region could be detected. For low magnetic fields, the position of the single-particle energy levels fluctuate on the scale of a flux quantum penetrating the dot area. For higher magnetic fields, the transition of the formation of Landau levels is observed. Estimates based on the linear energy-momentum relation of graphene give carrier numbers of the order of 10 for our device.