Folded graphene nanochannels via pulsed patterning of graphene

Abstract

We present a resist-free patterning technique to form electrically contacted graphene nanochannels via localized burning by a pulsed white light source. The technique uses end-point detection to stop the burning process at a fixed resistance to produce channels with resistances of 10 kX to 100 kX. Folding of the graphene sheet takes place during patterning, which provides very straight edges as identified by AFM and SEM. Electrical transport measurements for the nanochannels show a non-linear behavior of the current vs source-drain voltage as the resistance goes above 20 kX indicating conduction tunneling effects. Electrochemical gating was performed to further electrically characterize the constrictions produced. The method described can be interesting not only for fundamental studies correlating edge folded structures with electrical transport but also as a promising path for fabricating graphene devices in situ. Additionally, this method might also be extended to create nanochannels in other 2D materials. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.Since the isolation of graphene in 2004 1 by micromechanical exfoliation of graphite, its electronic, mechanical, and structural properties have been studied extensively. [2][3][4][5][6] With the advent of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques, large-area single layer graphene (SLG) became available, 7-9 making possible top-down device architectures where the graphene is patterned into desired shapes. Patterning graphene into nanochannels is a pathway to high performance electronics 10,11 and is also interesting for biosensing applications such as DNA sequencing. 12 One challenge is controlling the properties of the edges of these structures, which can lead to strong disorder. On the other hand, the production of folded edges has been predicted as an alternate way to modify graphene electronic structure and enhance its mechanical properties. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Recently, the ablation of graphene by ultra-short laser pulses has been demonstrated, and this technique often generates folded graphene edges; 21-25 however, so far the previous works have been focused on either the patterning of graphene into microribbons or on the understanding of the ablation process itself. Differently, here, we used this approach to achieve folded graphene nanochannels down to 30 nm in width with controllable resistance ranging from 10 kX to 100 kX. A focused pulsed laser is scanned along the graphene to define a cut while simultaneously employing end-point detection to turn off the laser when a desired resistance is reached. Additionally, we also have performed a detailed structural analysis (by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and TEM) of the morphology of the folded structures produced, as well as nonlinear electrical measurements and electrolyte gating to further characterized the nanochannels.We start by describing the sample preparation. Graphene is grown on Cu foils inside a CVD chamber at 1000 C and low pressure of H 2 /CH 4 (P total ¼ 0.12 To...

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