skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Patterning monolayer graphene with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride by anisotropic etching

Abstract

Graphene nanostructures are potential building blocks for nanoelectronic and spintronic devices. However, the production of monolayer graphene nanostructures with well-defined zigzag edges remains a challenge. In this paper, we report the patterning of monolayer graphene nanostructures with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) substrates by an anisotropic etching technique. We found that hydrogen plasma etching of monolayer graphene on h-BN is highly anisotropic due to the inert and ultra-flat nature of the h-BN surface, resulting in zigzag edge formation. The as-fabricated zigzag-edged monolayer graphene nanoribbons (Z-GNRs) with widths below 30 nm show high carrier mobility and width-dependent energy gaps at liquid helium temperature. These high quality Z-GNRs are thus ideal structures for exploring their valleytronic or spintronic properties.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2];  [1]
  1. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China)
  2. National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044 (Japan)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22594397
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 109; Journal Issue: 5; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; ANISOTROPY; BORON NITRIDES; CARRIER MOBILITY; CARRIERS; ENERGY GAP; ETCHING; GRAPHENE; HELIUM; HYDROGEN; LAYERS; LIQUIDS; NANOELECTRONICS; NANOSTRUCTURES; PLASMA; SUBSTRATES; SURFACES; WIDTH

Citation Formats

Wang, Guole, Wu, Shuang, Zhang, Tingting, Chen, Peng, Lu, Xiaobo, Wang, Shuopei, Wang, Duoming, Shi, Dongxia, Yang, Rong, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Zhang, Guangyu, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190, and Beijing Key Laboratory for Nanomaterials and Nanodevices, Beijing 100190. Patterning monolayer graphene with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride by anisotropic etching. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4959963.
Wang, Guole, Wu, Shuang, Zhang, Tingting, Chen, Peng, Lu, Xiaobo, Wang, Shuopei, Wang, Duoming, Shi, Dongxia, Yang, Rong, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Zhang, Guangyu, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190, & Beijing Key Laboratory for Nanomaterials and Nanodevices, Beijing 100190. Patterning monolayer graphene with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride by anisotropic etching. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4959963
Wang, Guole, Wu, Shuang, Zhang, Tingting, Chen, Peng, Lu, Xiaobo, Wang, Shuopei, Wang, Duoming, Shi, Dongxia, Yang, Rong, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Zhang, Guangyu, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190, and Beijing Key Laboratory for Nanomaterials and Nanodevices, Beijing 100190. 2016. "Patterning monolayer graphene with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride by anisotropic etching". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4959963.
@article{osti_22594397,
title = {Patterning monolayer graphene with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride by anisotropic etching},
author = {Wang, Guole and Wu, Shuang and Zhang, Tingting and Chen, Peng and Lu, Xiaobo and Wang, Shuopei and Wang, Duoming and Shi, Dongxia and Yang, Rong and Watanabe, Kenji and Taniguchi, Takashi and Zhang, Guangyu and Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190 and Beijing Key Laboratory for Nanomaterials and Nanodevices, Beijing 100190},
abstractNote = {Graphene nanostructures are potential building blocks for nanoelectronic and spintronic devices. However, the production of monolayer graphene nanostructures with well-defined zigzag edges remains a challenge. In this paper, we report the patterning of monolayer graphene nanostructures with zigzag edges on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) substrates by an anisotropic etching technique. We found that hydrogen plasma etching of monolayer graphene on h-BN is highly anisotropic due to the inert and ultra-flat nature of the h-BN surface, resulting in zigzag edge formation. The as-fabricated zigzag-edged monolayer graphene nanoribbons (Z-GNRs) with widths below 30 nm show high carrier mobility and width-dependent energy gaps at liquid helium temperature. These high quality Z-GNRs are thus ideal structures for exploring their valleytronic or spintronic properties.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4959963},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22594397}, journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
issn = {0003-6951},
number = 5,
volume = 109,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}