  We investigate the application of nanoscale topgates on exfoliated bilayer
graphene to define quantum dot devices. At temperatures below 500 mK the
conductance underneath the grounded gates is suppressed, which we attribute to
nearest neighbour hopping and strain-induced piezoelectric fields. The
gate-layout can thus be used to define resistive regions by tuning into the
corresponding temperature range. We use this method to define a quantum dot
structure in bilayer graphene showing Coulomb blockade oscillations consistent
with the gate layout.
