Polymer-free patterning of graphene at sub-10-nm scale by low-energy repetitive electron beam

Yann Wen Lan, Wen Hao Chang, Bo Tang Xiao, Bo Wei Liang, Jyun Hong Chen, Pei Hsun Jiang, Lain Jong Li, Ya Wen Su, Yuan Liang Zhong, Chii Dong Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Apolymer-free technique for generating nanopatterns on both synthesized and exfoliated graphene sheets is proposed and demonstrated. A low-energy (5-30 keV) scanning electron beam with variable repetition rates is used to etch suspended and unsuspended graphene sheets on designed locations. The patterning mechanisms involve a defect-induced knockout process in the initial etching stage and a heatinduced curling process in a later stage. Rough pattern edges appear due to inevitable stochastic knockout of carbon atoms or graphene structure imperfection and can be smoothed by thermal annealing. By using this technique, the minimum feature sizes achieved are about 5 nm for suspended and 7 nm for unsuspended graphene. This study demonstrates a polymer-free direct nanopatterning approach for graphene.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4778-4784
Number of pages7
JournalSmall
Volume10
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 26 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Biotechnology
  • General Materials Science
  • Biomaterials

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