The Ripple Effect of Graphite Nanofilm on Stretchable Polydimethylsiloxane for Optical Sensing

Abstract

Graphene-based optical sensing devices have been widely studied for their broad band absorption, high carrier mobility, and mechanical flexibility. Due to graphene’s weak light absorption, studies on graphene-based optical sensing thus far have focused on hybrid heterostructure devices to enhance photo-absorption. Such hybrid devices need a complicated integration process and lead to deteriorating carrier mobility as a result of heterogeneous interfaces. Rippled or wrinkled graphene has been studied in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, concrete demonstrations of the impact of the morphology of nanofilms (e.g., graphite and graphene) associated with light absorption in optical sensing devices have not been fully examined. This study explored the optical sensing potential of a graphite nanofilm surface with ripples induced by a stretchable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) supporting layer under different stretch:release ratios and then transferred onto silicon, both under experimental conditions and via simulation. The optical sensing potential of the rippled graphite nanofilm was significantly enhanced (260 mA/W at the stretch–release state of 30%), as compared to the pristine graphite/PDMS (20 mA/W at the stretch–release state of 0%) under laser illumination at a wavelength of 532 nm. In addition, the results of our simulated computation also confirmed the improved light absorption of rippled graphite nanofilm surface-based optical sensing devices, which was comparable with the results found in the experiment.

Technological Evolution of Image Sensing Designed by Nanostructured Materials

“…Designing an innovative PD device using Si film is considered a novel approach for image sensors (see Figure a) . Electronic and optoelectronic devices have been studied with rippled or wrinkled graphene, which revealed that an increase in ripple density of graphite nanostructures with the help of a supporting PDMS layer, the photoresponsivity also increased (see Figure b) . The graphene-based photodetector systems concentrated on hybrid technology to boost photoabsorption.…”

“…(b) Process of fabrication in rippled graphite (rGr) nanofilm-based image sensor. Reproduced with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 MDPI.…”

“…37 Electronic and optoelectronic devices have been studied with rippled or wrinkled graphene, which revealed that an increase in ripple density of graphite nanostructures with the help of a supporting PDMS layer, the photoresponsivity also increased (see Figure 8b). 38 The graphene-based photodetector systems concentrated on hybrid technology to boost photoabsorption. However, because of their heterogeneous interfaces, such hybrid devices demand time-consuming integration procedures and a decrease in carrier mobility.…”

Advances in solar energy harvesting integrated by van der Waals graphene heterojunctions

“…11 It comprises a monolayer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagon network. 7,18–42 Thus, graphene has been shown as a greatly promising material for future optoelectronic devices due to its remarkable features, including high mobility reaching up to 10 4 cm 2 V −1 s −1 at ambient temperature, exceptional thermal and electric conductivities, and ballistic transport. 12,43 Also, in the broad spectra range of visible and near-infrared (NIR), the transmittance of single layer graphene can reach 97.7%, and only 2.3% of the light intensity can be absorbed.…”

Photodetection Tuning with High Absorptivity Using Stacked 2D Heterostructure Films

“…Graphite and graphene show superior properties over Si and are considered as potential material for a next-generation semiconductor and display devices to replace currently limited device technologies [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. In addition, graphite and graphene have also exhibited mechanical flexibility and transparency, which are highly desirable for wearable devices or detection applications [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Compared to other 2D materials, graphene is much more mature for large-scale mass production.…”