Current-induced cleaning of graphene

Abstract
3 pages, 4 figures.-- PACS nrs.: 81.05.Uw, 81.65.Cf, 68.35.Dv, 68.43.Mn, 73.43.Fj.-- ArXiv pre-print available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/0709.0607A simple yet highly reproducible method to suppress contamination of graphene at low temperature inside the cryostat is presented. The method consists of applying a current of several milliamperes through the graphene device, which is here typically a few microns wide. This ultrahigh current density is shown to remove contamination adsorbed on the surface. This method is well suited for quantum electron transport studies of undoped graphene devices, and its utility is demonstrated here by measuring the anomalous quantum Hall effect.This work was supported by an EURYI grant and FP6-IST-021285-2.Peer reviewe