Functionalization of graphene with magnetite nanoparticles

When Rashba spin-orbit coupling and exchange field are induced in the graphene by proximity effect, a phenomenon called quantum anomalous Hall effect is obtained. This phenomenon induces the presence of a bandgap in the bulk graphene and a Hall resistivity of 0.5 h/e^2 is obtained. In this master thesis, we will investigate the effect induced by the presence of magnetite nanoparticles on the surface of graphene. In the simulation part, tight-binding simulations are performed to simulate the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and exchange field on the electronic transport in the graphene and highlight the quantum anomalous Hall effect in graphene. The effect of non-uniform Rashba spin-orbit coupling and exchange field is studied to mimic the presence of nanoparticles. In the experimental part, the samples used were contaminated leading to a significant shift of the Dirac point. As the purpose is to deposit nanoparticles, we needed to limit the presence of other contaminants that could disrupt the future measurements. In this part, the different cleaning steps and their effect on the Dirac point and the graphene quality are detailed. Besides, the first results obtained after deposition of nanoparticles are described. Indeed, the quality is not affected by the presence of nanoparticles and the Dirac point had shifted from 12V before deposition to 6V after deposition.