Towards Batch Fabrication of Graphene Sensors Based on Inter-layer Effects
With their sub-nanometer inter-sheet spacing, few layer graphenes (FLGs) are alignment free building blocks for nanosensors based on the inter-sheet effects such as electron tunneling, chemical doping, physical insertion, and enhanced edge effects. We have tackled the challenges towards batch fabrication of such sensors including controlled layer engineering, edge tailoring, and selective electrode fabrication on different atomic layers. An oxygen plasma etching (OPE) technique is developed to tailor the shape and number of layers of a graphene flake. It has been shown that it is possible to peel the graphene layer by layer using this technique, which can potentially enable the batch fabrication of FLGs in a controllable fashion due to the faster speed and readiness of patterning of this process as compared to the conventional mechanical exfoliation. Experiments have shown that inter sheet sensors possess a higher sensitivity than conventional intra sheet structured graphene sensors. Gas sensitivity is remarkably unproved in relative resistance or current changes by taking the inter sheet design upon exposure to the 0.5% ethanol hi nitrogen environment. This improvement on sensitivity can be attributed to the strong exponential relationship between inter-sheet tunneling current and layer separation. Such effects can be caused by molecule adsorption desorption, force/displacement, pressure, surface tension, or thermal energy, and can potentially enrich the applicable transduction mechanisms remarkably.
Fubo Rao Haider Almumen Zheng Fan Wen Li Lixin Dong
Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
国际会议
长春
英文
1-6
2011-08-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）