Origin of the current transport anisotropy in epitaxial graphene grown on vicinal 4H-SiC (0001) surfaces

In this paper, the electronic transport in epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on the Si face of 8° off-axis 4H-SiC has been investigated, using both electrical characterization of macroscopic devices and conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). In particular, current measurements on linear transmission line model (TLM) structures with different orientations showed a current transport anisotropy related to steps orientation, with the resistance of EG in the direction orthogonal to the steps ~2× higher than in the parallel direction. Two dimensional morphology and current maps in EG over the stepped SiC surface were obtained by CAFM and revealed a local resistance increase of EG over the (1 l-2n) facets with respect to the (0001) basal planes. This effect allows to account for the observed macroscopic current transport anisotropy and can be explained in terms of a different interface nature between EG and SiC on the two faces, leading to a locally different substrate induced doping of EG