Invited Paper GR+TF+NS-ThA1
Rationally Patterned Large-Area Semiconducting Graphene Materials from the Top-Down and the Bottom-Up

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 2:00 pm, Room 208

We are experimentally investigating self-assembling lithography (e.g. block co-polymer and nanosphere lithography) to create nanostructured graphene materials with feature sizes below what is easily achieved using optical and electron-beam lithography (< 20 nm), with the motivation of opening up a technologically relevant band gap in graphene. We are particularly interested in a novel form of semiconducting graphene that we call nanoperforated graphene, which consists of graphene perforated by regular hexagonal arrays of nanoscale holes. Unlike nanoribbons, nanoperforated graphene advantageously retains a large-area two-dimensional form factor. In this talk, we will discuss the inter-relationship between the physical structure of nanoperforated graphene and its electronic properties, with specific emphasis on how its band gap experimentally varies with feature size and how charge transport is affected by structure (including the role of edge defects and the observation of single-electron charging effects). We will also report on efforts in our group to realize nanostructured graphene materials with well controlled edge structure and superior properties via scalable and rationally controlled bottom-up growth that avoids top-down etching without sacrificing arbitrary pattern forming ability.