Seed-IV Highlight: Single atom-thick nano sensors

This research was supported by the NSF MRSEC Program (award DMR-0819762).

Author: P. Jarillo-Herrero (MIT)

Ever smaller, faster, lighter, and more accurate sensors are needed to meet some of the world’s most pressing needs in safety and security. Graphene based nanosensors show great promise in being able to open a new era of sensor capability. At exactly one atom thick, graphene forms an idyllic two dimensional membrane, perfect for sensors and many other nano-scale devices. Integral to further development of such devices, this work advances precision control of the size, quality, and geometry of graphene flakes.

In this work, researchers from the MIT MRSEC have pioneered new methods that have successfully formed features as small as ~10nm and may be capable of control on the level of tens of atoms. Using a gallium focused ion beam and a brand new helium ion microscope just recently brought to market, unprecedented control in the patterning of suspended graphene devices has been achieved, progressing toward the first fully functioning graphene based nanosensors.

~ 20 nm

Figure. SEM images of suspended graphene devices etched with focused ion beam and helium ion microscopes. The minimum feature sizes range between 10nm and 100nm.