Block Co-polymer on Graphene: Doping of Graphene and a Robust Chemical Sensor

Abstract

ABSTRACTIt is essential to control the electronic properties of a graphene field effect transistor (GFET). And the ability to accurately control the intrinsic electrical transport properties and to locally change the carrier density will be significant for graphene devices. We succeeded in achieving and controlling the Dirac point (neutrality point) simply by doping block co-polymer (BCP) covered GFET with CF4 plasma. By exposing polymer covered GFET to CF4 plasma for a short time the electronic transport was altered significantly. The hexagonal structure of BCP produces patterns with nanoscale spacing for heterogeneous patterns which provides a new approach to tune the electron and the hole conductivity simultaneously. Exploitation of fluorine doping provides a general route to control electronic property of any polymer coated GFET. The BCP protected GFET could detect 1mM NaF solution in “dry” condition in 60s. The sensing property demonstrates that BCP protected GFET could be a good candidate for stable and sensitive chemical or biological sensor. Furthermore, the distinct property of two functional groups within BCP facilitates the selective sensing property. These findings pave the way for developing more stable and sensitive sensors under ambient conditions.