Scientists carve functional nanoribbons using super-heated, nano-sized particles of iron
Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 08:28
in Physics & Chemistry
Due to its remarkable electronic properties, few layer graphene, or FLG, has emerged as a promising new material for use in post-silicon devices that incorporate the quantum effects that emerge at the nanoscale. Now, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a new method by which FLG can be etched along flawless, crystallographic axes by using thermally activated nanoparticles, a technique that results in atomically precise, macroscopic length ribbons of graphene. The advance could enable atomically precise, and far simpler, construction of integrated circuits from single graphene sheets with a wide range of technological applications.