Recent years have seen a rapid growth of interest by the scientific and engineering communities in the thermal properties of materials. Heat removal has become a crucial issue for continuing progress in the electronic industry, and thermal conduction in low-dimensional structures has revealed truly intriguing features. Carbon allotropes and their derivatives occupy a unique place in terms of their ability to conduct heat. The room-temperature thermal conductivity of carbon materials span an extraordinary large range--of over five orders of magnitude--from the lowest in amorphous carbons to the highest in graphene and carbon nanotubes. Here, I review the thermal properties of carbon materials focusing on recent results for graphene, carbon nanotubes and nanostructured carbon materials with different degrees of disorder. Special attention is given to the unusual size dependence of heat conduction in two-dimensional crystals and, specifically, in graphene. I also describe the prospects of applications of graphene and carbon materials for thermal management of electronics.

Thermal properties of graphene and nanostructured carbon materials

Recent years witnessed a rapid growth of interest of scientific and engineering communities to thermal properties of materials. Carbon allotropes and derivatives occupy a unique place in terms of their ability to conduct heat. The room-temperature thermal conductivity of carbon materials span an extraordinary large range – of over five orders of magnitude – from the lowest in amorphous carbons to the highest in graphene and carbon nanotubes. I review thermal and thermoelectric properties of carbon materials focusing on recent results for graphene, carbon nanotubes and nanostructured carbon materials with different degrees of disorder. A special attention is given to the unusual size dependence of heat conduction in two-dimensional crystals and, specifically, in graphene. I also describe prospects of applications of graphene and carbon materials for thermal management of electronics.

Thermal Properties of Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes and Nanostructured Carbon Materials

We present the science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems, targeting an evolution in technology, that might lead to impacts and benefits reaching into most areas of society. This roadmap was developed within the framework of the European Graphene Flagship and outlines the main targets and research areas as best understood at the start of this ambitious project. We provide an overview of the key aspects of graphene and related materials (GRMs), ranging from fundamental research challenges to a variety of applications in a large number of sectors, highlighting the steps necessary to take GRMs from a state of raw potential to a point where they might revolutionize multiple industries. We also define an extensive list of acronyms in an effort to standardize the nomenclature in this emerging field.

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Science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems

Physical Review B

Human skin is a remarkable organ. It consists of an integrated, stretchable network of sensors that relay information about tactile and thermal stimuli to the brain, allowing us to maneuver within our environment safely and effectively. Interest in large-area networks of electronic devices inspired by human skin is motivated by the promise of creating autonomous intelligent robots and biomimetic prosthetics, among other applications. The development of electronic networks comprised of flexible, stretchable, and robust devices that are compatible with large-area implementation and integrated with multiple functionalities is a testament to the progress in developing an electronic skin (e-skin) akin to human skin. E-skins are already capable of providing augmented performance over their organic counterpart, both in superior spatial resolution and thermal sensitivity. They could be further improved through the incorporation of additional functionalities (e.g., chemical and biological sensing) and desired properties (e.g., biodegradability and self-powering). Continued rapid progress in this area is promising for the development of a fully integrated e-skin in the near future.

25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress

The charge-density-wave (CDW) phase is a macroscopic quantum state consisting of a periodic modulation of the electronic charge density accompanied by a periodic distortion of the atomic lattice in quasi-1D or layered 2D metallic crystals. Several layered transition metal dichalcogenides, such as 1T-TaSe2, 1T-TaS2 and 1T-TiSe2, exhibit unusually high transition temperatures to different CDW symmetry-reducing phases. These transitions can be affected by environmental conditions, film thickness and applied electric bias. However, device applications of these intriguing systems at room temperature or their integration with other 2D materials have not been explored. Here we show that in 2D CDW 1T-TaS2, the abrupt change in the electrical conductivity and hysteresis at the transition point between nearly-commensurate and incommensurate charge-density-wave phases can be used for constructing an oscillator that operates at room temperature. The hexagonal boron nitride was capped on 1T-TaS2 thin film to provide protection from oxidation, and an integrated graphene transistor provides a voltage tunable, matched, low-resistance load enabling precise voltage control of the oscillator frequency. The integration of these three disparate two-dimensional materials, in a way that exploits the unique properties of each, yields a simple, miniaturized, voltage-controlled oscillator device. Theoretical considerations suggest that the upper limit of oscillation frequency to be in the THz regime.

An Integrated Tantalum Sulfide - Boron Nitride - Graphene Oscillator: A Charge-Density-Wave Device Operating at Room Temperature

Graphene, which is a planar single sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms arranged in honeycomb lattice with superior electrical and heat conducting properties, has been proposed as material for future electronic circuits, sensors and detectors. Practical applications of graphene devices require an acceptable level of the low-frequency 1/f γ electronic noise (f is frequency). We fabricated and investigated electronic noise characteristics in a set of back-gated and top-gated graphene field-effect transistors, which used single-layer and bi-layer graphene as the electrically conducting channel, and SiO2 and HfO2 as gate dielectrics. The Hooge parameter α H , which characterizes the noise level, for the single and bi-layer graphene devices is on the order of α H ∼ 10−4–10−3, which is comparable to that in the state-of-the-art devices made of conventional semiconductors. The generation – recombination (G-R) – type bulges in the noise spectra of some graphene devices suggest that the noise is of the carrier-number fluctuation origin and is caused by the charge carrier trapping and de-trapping by defects in graphene and SiO2 layer. The obtained experimental results are important for electronic and sensor applications of graphene.

Low-Frequency Electronic Noise in the Back-Gated and Top-Gated Graphene Devices

The studies of the low frequency noise in graphene transistors with the number of carbon layers from N=1 (single layer graphene) to N=15 showed that 1/f noise becomes dominated by the volume noise when the thickness exceeds approximately 7 atomic layers. We compare these results with the data on surface and volume noise in carbon nanotubes and Si MOS.

Surface and volume 1/f noise in multi-layer graphene

In this letter, single stranded Deoxyribonucleic Acids (ssDNA) are found to act as negative potential gating agents that increase the hole density in single layer graphene (SLG). Current-voltage measurement of the hybrid ssDNA/graphene system indicates a shift in the Dirac point and “intrinsic” conductance after ssDNA is patterned. The effect of ssDNA is to increase the hole density in the graphene layer, which is calculated to be on the order of 1.8×10 12 cm -2 . This increased density is consistent with the Raman frequency shifts in the G-peak and 2D band positions and the corresponding changes in the G-peak full-width half maximum. This patterning of DNA on graphene layers could provide new avenues to modulate their electrical properties and for novel electronic devices.

DNA Gating effect from single layer graphene

Graphene reveals many extraordinary properties including extremely high room temperature carrier mobility and intrinsic thermal conductivity. Understanding how to controllably modify graphene’s properties is essential for its proposed applications. Here we report on a method for tuning the electrical properties of graphene via electron beam irradiation. It was observed that single-layer graphene is highly susceptible to the low-energy electron beams. We demonstrated that by controlling the irradiation dose one can change, by desired amount, the carrier mobility, shift the charge neutrality point, increase the resistance at the minimum conduction point, induce the “transport gap” and achieve current saturation in graphene. The change in graphene properties is due to defect formation on the graphene surface and in the graphene lattice. The changes are reversible by annealing until some critical irradiation dose is reached.

Guanxiong Liu

Papers

An Integrated Tantalum Sulfide - Boron Nitride - Graphene Oscillator: A Charge-Density-Wave Device Operating at Room Temperature

Low-Frequency Electronic Noise in the Back-Gated and Top-Gated Graphene Devices

Surface and volume 1/f noise in multi-layer graphene

DNA Gating effect from single layer graphene

Reversible Tuning of the Electronic Properties of Graphene via Controlled Exposure to Electron Beam Irradiation and Annealing