| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Thin Film | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session TF-TuP |
| Session: | Aspects of Thin Films Poster Session |
| Presenter: | R.A. Quinlan, The College of William and Mary |
| Authors: | R.A. Quinlan, The College of William and Mary B.C. Holloway, The College of William and Mary M.Y. Zhu, The College of William and Mary K. Hou, The College of William and Mary |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Carbon nanostructures such as chemically vapor deposited carbon nanotubes have shown remarkable thermal, mechanical and electrical properties, making them an area of intense scientific interest. However, their actual use in new technology has been limited by both the extreme nature of efficient growth conditions and the difficulty of conformally coating the structure while maintaining the original morphology. Carbon nanosheets - vertically oriented nanostructures of 1-5 graphene layers - have shown promise as a more robust alternative carbon nanostructure. Previous reports have detailed the synthesis of carbon nanosheets via RF PECVD on metallic, insulating and semiconducting substrates, their characterization via Raman, XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, PIXE, ERDA, and TDS. Of interest, previous BET measurements yielded an effective surface area of ~1,300 m2/g, which is comparable to that of the theoretical limit for carbon nanotubes (1315 m2/g) and much higher than that of activated charcoal. Here we report, that utilizing a customized polymer incorporation technique, nanosheets have been transferred to alternative substrates while maintaining their original morphology. The ability to transfer nanosheets to a substrate that need not take on the thermal budget of the carbon nanostructure synthesis combined with the ability to pattern nanosheets using standard photoresist techniques offers the potential for an enabling technology for more realistic nanosheet-based devices and sensors. In addition the conformal coatings of nanosheets with an industrial silicone, standard photo resist, and two photoactive polymers via a tailored spin-casting or drop-casting procedure of the polymers will also be discussed. SEM shows that, at low loadings, a conformal coating of polymer on the nanosheets is produced; thicker loadings cause intercalation of the polymer between the nanosheets and a complete incorporation of the nanosheets into a solid polymer film. Tuning the deposition conditions allows for air release and eliminates void formation and thereby minimizes undercutting when patterning the nanosheets via photoresist-based techniques.