Electronic Correlations, Magnetism, and Transport in Functionalized Graphene

Jorge O. Sofo
Professor of Physics and of Materials Science and Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University

Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms in the honeycomb structure, exhibits electronic states at the Fermi level with unique symmetry properties. These are responsible for graphene's large electronic mobilities at room temperature that are almost independent of doping level. To harness this uniqueness into devices we need to modify the material. We need to find a way to inset carriers and open a band gap. Chemical functionalization has been the method of choice for these modifications; but it resulted in a box of surprises. It opens the way to magnetism, localization, and other interesting phenomena that are unexpected in materials made of carbon. We will review the fascinating magnetic states produced with hydrogenation and fluorination of graphene as well as their influence on its transport properties.