Technical: The research program of this CAREER award focuses on a new graphene nanostructure, graphene nanomesh, which can effectively introduce lateral quantum confinement into a large piece of graphene to form a uniform semiconducting nanomesh thin film. Using block copolymer lithography or nanodot lithography, graphene nanomeshes are fabricated with variable periodicities and neck widths down to the sub-5 nm regime, and hence to fine tune the degree of lateral quantum confinement and the size of the band gap. The nanomesh structures are characterized using scanning probe microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In addition to fundamental materials science research, the project includes electrical transport studies in order to determine the critical material parameters including the band gap and carrier mobility, theoretical calculations carried out through collaborations to understand the fundamental band structure of this new graphene nanostructure and to guide experimental optimization, and fabrication of testing top-gated graphene nanomesh devices.
The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science with high technological relevance. The success of the project is expected to have impacts on the further advancement of nanoelectronics and, in general, nanoscience and nanotechnology. The research and education programs of the project are integrated. The research program provides graduate students with an education and training opportunity that is broadly based and goes beyond traditional educational boundaries. Underrepresented groups are actively recruited to participate in the research program. A partnership with industry for education is developed for students to gain first-hand experience in industry and to better prepare them as the future workforce for emerging technologies. The materials and methodologies developed in this project are integrated into graduate and undergraduate courses to broaden the education experience beyond the PI's lab; and are used to train high school teachers and design experimental kits for high school science classes to reach the local communities beyond the university. Together, these efforts contribute significantly to train and supply a steady and diversified source of highly qualified individuals for emerging technologies, and contribute to maintain the competitive advantage of America's technology.
