We present an overview of the main techniques for production and processing of graphene and related materials (GRMs), as well as the key characterization procedures. We adopt a ‘hands-on’ approach, providing practical details and procedures as derived from literature as well as from the authors’ experience, in order to enable the reader to reproduce the results. Section is devoted to ‘bottom up’ approaches, whereby individual constituents are pieced together into more complex structures. We consider graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) produced either by solution processing or by on-surface synthesis in ultra high vacuum (UHV), as well carbon nanomembranes (CNM). Production of a variety of GNRs with tailored band gaps and edge shapes is now possible. CNMs can be tuned in terms of porosity, crystallinity and electronic behaviour. Section covers ‘top down’ techniques. These rely on breaking down of a layered precursor, in the graphene case usually natural crystals like graphite or artificially synthesized materials, such as highly oriented pyrolythic graphite, monolayers or few layers (FL) flakes. The main focus of this section is on various exfoliation techniques in a liquid media, either intercalation or liquid phase exfoliation (LPE). The choice of precursor, exfoliation method, medium as well as the control of parameters such as time or temperature are crucial. A definite choice of parameters and conditions yields a particular material with specific properties that makes it more suitable for a targeted application. We cover protocols for the graphitic precursors to graphene oxide (GO). This is an important material for a range of applications in biomedicine, energy storage, nanocomposites, etc. Hummers’ and modified Hummers’ methods are used to make GO that subsequently can be reduced to obtain reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with a variety of strategies. GO flakes are also employed to prepare three-dimensional (3d) low density structures, such as sponges, foams, hydro- or aerogels. The assembly of flakes into 3d structures can provide improved mechanical properties. Aerogels with a highly open structure, with interconnected hierarchical pores, can enhance the accessibility to the whole surface area, as relevant for a number of applications, such as energy storage. The main recipes to yield graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) are also discussed. GICs are suitable precursors for covalent functionalization of graphene, but can also be used for the synthesis of uncharged graphene in solution. Degradation of the molecules intercalated in GICs can be triggered by high temperature treatment or microwave irradiation, creating a gas pressure surge in graphite and exfoliation. Electrochemical exfoliation by applying a voltage in an electrolyte to a graphite electrode can be tuned by varying precursors, electrolytes and potential. Graphite electrodes can be either negatively or positively intercalated to obtain GICs that are subsequently exfoliated. We also discuss the materials that can be amenable to exfoliation, by ...

We present a micrometer scale, on-chip integrated, plasmonic enhanced graphene photodetector (GPD) for telecom wavelengths operating at zero dark current. The GPD is designed and optimized to directly generate a photovoltage and has an external responsivity∼12.2V/W with a 3dB bandwidth∼42GHz. We utilize Au split-gates with a∼100nm gap to electrostatically create a p-n-junction and simultaneously guide a surface plasmon polariton gap-mode. This increases light-graphene interaction and optical absorption and results in an increased electronic temperature and steeper temperature gradient across the GPD channel. This paves the way to compact, on-chip integrated, power-efficient graphene based photodetectors for receivers in tele and datacom modules.The ever-growing demand for global data traffic[1] is driving the development of next generation communication standards [2,3]. The increasing numbers of connected devices[4], the need for new functionalities, and the development of high-performance computing [5,6] require optical communication systems performing at higher speeds, with improved energy-efficiency, whilst maintaining scalability and cost-effective manufacturing. Si photonics[7-9] offers the prospect of dense (nanoscale) integration[10] relying on mature, low-cost (based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication processes) manufacturing [8,9], making it one of the key technologies for short-reach (<10km) optical interconnects[11] beyond currently employed lithium niobate[12] and indium phosphate[13]. A variety of functionalities have been developed and demonstrated in Si photonics for local optical interconnects[11]. Electro-optic modulators based on carrier-depletion (phase-modulation) in Si[14, 15] or the Franz-Keldysh effect[16] (amplitude-modulation) in strained Si-Ge[17, 18] encode information into optical signals at telecom wavelengths (λ =1.3-1.6µm). On the receiver side, Ge[19] or bonded III-V[20, 21] photodetectors (PD) are needed for optical-to-electrical signal conversion, since the telecom photon energies are not sufficient for direct (band-to-band) photodetection in Si[22].On-chip integrated Ge PDs [23][24][25][26][27] are standard components in Si photonics foundries [8,9,22]. Their external responsivities (in A/W), R I = I ph /P in , where I ph is the photocurrent and P in is the incident optical power, can exceed 1A/W [8,23] and their bandwidth can reach 60GHz [25][26][27]. Following the development of high temperature (> 600 • C) [19] heterogeneous integration of Ge-on-Si using epitaxial growth and cyclic thermal annealing [19,28,29], the concentration of defects and threading dislocations in Ge epilayers and at Si/Ge interfaces can be reduced [19], resulting in low (<10nA[9, 27]) dark current in waveguide integrated Ge p-i-n photodiodes [24,27]. However, Ge-on-Si integration is a complex process [19,22,29], as the lattice mismatch between Si and Ge [19], ion implantation [23,25], thermal budget (i.e. thermal energy transfer to the wafer) management [22], and the non-plan...