Wafer-scale synthesis and optoelectrical applications of bottom-up graphene nanoribbons

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) combine the unique electronic and spin properties of graphene with a transport gap that arises from quantum confinement and edge effects. This makes them an attractive candidate material for the channels of next-generation transistors. However, the reliable site and alignment control of nanoribbons with high on/off current ratios remains a challenge. We have developed a new, simple, scalable method based on novel plasma catalytic reaction [1-4] for directly fabricating narrow GNRs devices with a clear transport gap [5]. The growth dynamics of suspended GNR is also investigated through the systematic experimental study combined with molecular dynamics simulation and theoretical calculations for phase diagram analysis. The improvement of thermal stability of Ni nanobar can be a key to realize the GNR nucleation in our method, which can be given by supplying higher density of carbon from plasma to liquid-phase Ni nanobar [6]. Furthermore, unique optoelectrical property, known as persistent photoconductivity (PPC), is also observed in our suspended GNR devices. By using the PPC, GNR-based non-volatile memory operation is demonstrated. We believe that our results can contribute to pushing the study of atomically thin layered materials from basic science into a new stage related to the optoelectrical applications [7-9] in industrial scale.