Sample-Size Effects in the Magnetoresistance of Graphite

Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 216601 (2007)

J. C. González, M. Muñoz, N. GarcíaJ. Barzola-Quiquia, D. Spoddig, K. Schindler, and P. Esquinazi

Abstract

Conduction electrons in graphite are expected to have micrometer large de Broglie wavelength as well as mean free path. A direct influence of these lengths in the electric transport properties of finite-size samples was neglected in the past. We provide a direct evidence of this effect through the size dependence of the magnetoresistance, which decreases with the sample size even for samples hundreds of micrometers large. Our findings may explain the absence of magnetoresistance in small few graphene layers samples and ask for a general revision of the experimental and theoretical work on the transport properties of this material.