Monolayer graphene exhibits exceptional electronic and mechanical properties, making it a very promising material for nanoelectromechanical devices. Here, we conclusively demonstrate the piezoresistive effect in graphene in a nanoelectromechanical membrane configuration that provides direct electrical readout of pressure to strain transduction. This makes it highly relevant for an important class of nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) transducers. This demonstration is consistent with our simulations and previously reported gauge factors and simulation values. The membrane in our experiment acts as a strain gauge independent of crystallographic orientation and allows for aggressive size scalability. When compared with conventional pressure sensors, the sensors have orders of magnitude higher sensitivity per unit area.
We experimentally demonstrate DC functionality of graphene-based hot electron transistors, which we call graphene base transistors (GBT). The fabrication scheme is potentially compatible with silicon technology and can be carried out at the wafer scale with standard silicon technology. The state of the GBTs can be switched by a potential applied to the transistor base, which is made of graphene. Transfer characteristics of the GBTs show ON/OFF current ratios exceeding 10(4).
Nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) sensors and actuators could be of use in the development of next generation mobile, wearable, and implantable devices. However, these NEMS devices require transducers that are ultra-small, sensitive and can be fabricated at low cost. Here, we show that suspended double-layer graphene ribbons with attached silicon proof masses can be used as combined spring-mass and piezoresistive transducers. The transducers, which are realized using processes that are compatible with large-scale semiconductor manufacturing technologies, can yield NEMS accelerometers that occupy at least two orders of magnitude smaller die area than conventional state-of-the-art silicon accelerometers. With our devices, we also extract the Young's modulus values of double-layer graphene and show that the graphene ribbons have significant built-in stresses.
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