Graphene fabrication method

Eletskii AV, Iskandarova IM, Knizhnik AA, Krasikov DN. Graphene fabrication methods and thermophysical properties. Physics-Uspekhi 2011 54 227-58. 

Not surprisingly, this bottom-up fabrication method holds also promise for the growth of graphene nanoribbons containing heteroatoms at strictly defined... 

Graphene is actually the single 2-D layer of graphite with one-atom-thick, sp -bonded honeycomb carbon lattice. This material was first isolated from graphite by exfoliation with adhesive tape in 2004 and fabrication methods of graphene have expanded quickly since then. Graphene and its derivatives are such new carbon nanostructures that their research and applications in orthopedics are still limited. Here, their fabrication methods are briefly overviewed and the readers can refer to literature [40] for more details. 

Among the fabrication methods introduced above, one can find that CVD is probably the most versatile approach to fabricate carbon nanostructures from CNT/CNF to NCD to graphene. CVD techniques have also been adopted by industry for many years and this adoption paves a broad road for scahng up the production of carbon nanostructures for various applications. 

However, one should take into account that it is nearly impossible to produce only single layers of graphene with current fabrication methods (Ratinac et al. 2011). Therefore, graphene can include... 

Until now, the fabrication of defect-free high-quality graphene in large areas, which is critical for nanoelectronic devices, is still a big challenge. Surely, the establishment of controllable approaches for specific applications is the precondition toward real application. Various methods have been developed and more novel fabrication methods are still emerging. In this section, the most important preparation methods that have been used so far will be discussed in detail. 

Fabrication method Graphene precursor Operating conditions Advantages Disadvantages Application implications References... 

For further evolution of the probe nanotechnology we should have new types of fine probes. We have developed focused ion beam (FIB) methods for silicon probe modification and sharp pointing. They are very powerful for the fabrication of probes with desirable properties and orientations. Fig. 3 displays the application of this method for integrated CNT and graphene based electronics and nanosystems in mass production. 

Radiation methods occupy an important place in the production and investigation of new functional materials, devices, and systems of nanometer size (ion-track membranes, polymeric nanocomposites, 3D nanostructures, metal nanoparticles, carbon nanostructures, etc.). The recent trend towards electronic miniaturization places at the forefront the problem of fabrication of semiconductor nanostructures, which is possible only with the use of radiation lithographic methods. The radiation modification of graphene can play a key role in the development of a new generation of industrial microchips based on graphene transistors, which will lead to a sharp increase in the operation speed and recording density of modem computer and communication systems. 

Like the liquid crystalline ordering of collection of rod-shaped particles in concentrated dispersions, collections of disc-shaped particles should also exhibit orientational order with sufficient concentration and narrow size and shape distributions [113, 114]. Moreover, disc-like objects are experimentally observed to exhibit nematic, smectic and columnar type mesophases in consistent with theoretical predictions. Since graphene can be considered as disc-like nano-object with very high aspect ratio, it has been shown that upon dispersion in sufficiently high concentrations it exhibits liquid crystalline phase behavior. The following are the different methods to fabricate and stabilize graphene based liquid crystalline phases. 

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