Abstract
Graphene nanoribbon (GNR), also known as 1-dimensional graphene, with a non-zero band gap has a huge potential for various electrical and optoelectrical applications because of its high transparency, flexibility, controllable band gap, and unique edge states. Recent advances in the synthesis of GNR enable us to show the possibility of GNRs as future high performance electrical devices. However, the applicability of GNRs to optoelectrical devices is unclear. Here we report that suspended GNR devices can show persistent photoconductivity (PPC) with long decay time (over 72 h) and adequate environmental stability. Repeated non-volatile memory operation is also demonstrated with an integrated PPC device using GNRs. This very stable PPC device can be applied to a wide variety of fields such as ultra-low-power non-volatile memory, nanoscale imaging, and biological sensors. Our results have opened the door to advance the study of GNRs in novel directions such as optoelectrical applications.
Highlights
The current levels associated with persistent photoconductivity (PPC) can be modulated by photo-irradiation, and the modulated current can be maintained even after the photo-irradiation has ceased; this is a well known phenomena for bulk 3-dimensional (3D) materials[13,14,15,16]
The very stable Graphene nanoribbon (GNR)-based PPC device has a huge potential for the realization of ultra-low-power non-volatile memory and various biological applications such as DNA sequencers in micro fluid devices[19], in vivo imaging[20], and microchip implants[21]
Our results demonstrate a novel direction of GNR study for optoelectrical applications
Summary
Graphene nanoribbon (GNR), known as 1-dimensional graphene, with a non-zero band gap has a huge potential for various electrical and optoelectrical applications because of its high transparency, flexibility, controllable band gap, and unique edge states. Progress has been made in the synthesis of GNR such as bottom-up chemical synthesis of edge-controlled GNR7–9 and epitaxial synthesis of armchair GNR on a Ge substrate[10] These advances enable us to demonstrate the possibilities of GNR in future high performance electrical devices, it is still a challenge to clarify the suitability of GNRs for optoelectrical applications because of the difficulty of GNR manipulation. The PPC operation can be realized even in water, indicating that GNR-based PPC devices can possess excellent environmental stability By using these highly stable GNR-PPC devices, non-volatile memory operation was demonstrated. The very stable GNR-based PPC device has a huge potential for the realization of ultra-low-power non-volatile memory and various biological applications such as DNA sequencers in micro fluid devices[19], in vivo imaging[20], and microchip implants[21]. The accurate layer number of GNR used in this study is not sure, it can be around 5 to 10 layers by judging from our previous studies
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