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Synthesis of monolithic graphene–graphite integrated electronics

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 120–125 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Encoding electronic functionality into nanoscale elements during chemical synthesis has been extensively explored over the past decade as the key to developing integrated nanosystems1 with functions defined by synthesis2,3,4,5,6. Graphene7,8,9,10,11,12 has been recently explored as a two-dimensional nanoscale material, and has demonstrated simple device functions based on conventional top-down fabrication13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20. However, the synthetic approach to encoding electronic functionality and thus enabling an entire integrated graphene electronics in a chemical synthesis had not previously been demonstrated. Here we report an unconventional approach for the synthesis of monolithically integrated electronic devices based on graphene and graphite. Spatial patterning of heterogeneous metal catalysts permits the selective growth of graphene and graphite, with a controlled number of graphene layers. Graphene transistor arrays with graphitic electrodes and interconnects were formed from the synthesis. These functional, all-carbon structures were transferable onto a variety of substrates. The integrated transistor arrays were used to demonstrate real-time, multiplexed chemical sensing and more significantly, multiple carbon layers of the graphene–graphite device components were vertically assembled to form a three-dimensional flexible structure which served as a top-gate transistor array. These results represent substantial progress towards encoding electronic functionality through chemical synthesis and suggest the future promise of one-step integration of graphene–graphite based electronics.

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Figure 1: Synthesis of monolithic graphene–graphite structures using heterogeneously patterned metal catalyst films.
Figure 2: Synthesis and electrical characteristics of monolithic graphene–graphite back-gate FETs.
Figure 3: Real-time, multiplexed pH sensing using monolithic graphene field-effect sensor arrays with graphite electrodes.
Figure 4: Flexible and semitransparent top-gate monolithic graphene–graphite FET arrays.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Wang for assistance on electrical measurements, Y. K. Kim for TEM characterization, and J. Cahoon and Q. Qing for helpful discussions. J-U.P. thanks UNIST for support through the 2010 Research Fund, and S.N. thanks the Samsung Scholarship. This research was supported by a research project of National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant number: 20110014111), and by a NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (5DP1OD003900).

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Author notes

  1. Jang-Ung Park and SungWoo Nam: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nano-Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, School of Mechanical and Advanced Materials Engineering, Graphene Research Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan Metropolitan City, 689-798, Republic of Korea

    Jang-Ung Park & Mi-Sun Lee

  2. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    SungWoo Nam & Charles M. Lieber

  3. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    SungWoo Nam & Charles M. Lieber

Authors
  1. Jang-Ung Park
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  2. SungWoo Nam
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  3. Mi-Sun Lee
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  4. Charles M. Lieber
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Contributions

J-U.P., S.N. and C.M.L. designed the experiments. J-U.P., S. N. and M-S. L. performed the experiments. J-U.P., S.N. and C.M.L. analysed the data and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Jang-Ung Park or SungWoo Nam.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Park, JU., Nam, S., Lee, MS. et al. Synthesis of monolithic graphene–graphite integrated electronics. Nature Mater 11, 120–125 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3169

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