Nonlinear Dc Transport in Graphene

Considering electron–impurity, electron–acoustic-phonon and electron–optical-phonon scatterings, the nonlinear steady-state transport properties of graphene are studied theoretically by means of the balance equation approach. We find that the conductivity as a function of electric field strength, E, exhibits strongly nonlinear behavior for E larger than a critical value, Ec≈0.1 kV cm−1. With the increase of E from zero, the conductivity first decreases slowly and then it falls rapidly when E>Ec. The dependence of electron temperature on E is also demonstrated.