Graphene-based Nanosensor
Graphene, a single free-standing atomic layer of carbon, has extraordinary electrical, optical, and thermal properties. Specifically, few-layer graphene (FLG) has sub-nanometer inter-sheet spacing between stacked graphene sheets, which enables new transduction possibilities. Currently, we are developing graphene nanosensors by taking the advantages of inter-layer tunneling and doping effects and high electron mobility of FLGs (Figure below). Applications of such inter-layered graphene sensors in chemical molecule detection have been demonstrated, showing that the inter-layer configuration can achieve higher sensitivities compared to the most commonly used intra-layer configuration. Our goal is to integrate this inter-layered graphene sensor with a microfluidic platform to realize an automatic and high resolution sensing system for biomolecular detection.
Graphene-based Nanoelectronics
Stable doping of graphene into semiconducting materials is one of the most challenging aspects of manufacturing graphene nanoelectronics. My research team is developing novel nanomanufacturing and chemical doping methods to achieve p-type or n-type graphene with excellent air stability and high mobility. By selectively patterning p- and n-type regions within a single graphene sheet, recently we have realized monolithically integrated graphene nanocircuits on both rigid and flexible substrates.
Project participants: Dr. Haider Al-Mumen, Dr. Zheng Fan, Dr. Fubo Rao