Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), when synthesized with atomic precision by bottom–up chemical approaches, possess tunable electronic structure, and high theoretical mobility, conductivity, and heat dissipation capabilities, which makes them an excellent candidate for channel material in post-silicon transistors. Despite their immense potential, achieving highly transparent contacts for efficient charge transport—which requires proper contact selection and a deep understanding of the complex one-dimensional GNR channel-three-dimensional metal contact interface—remains a challenge. In this study, we investigated the impact of different electron-beam deposited contact metals—the commonly used palladium (Pd) and softer metal indium (In)—on the structural properties and field-effect transistor performance of semiconducting nine-atom wide armchair GNRs. The performance and integrity of the GNR channel material were studied by means of a comprehensive Raman spectroscopy analysis, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging, optical absorption calculations, and transport measurements. We found that, compared to Pd, In contacts facilitate favorable Ohmic-like transport because of the reduction of interface defects, while the edge structure quality of GNR channel plays a more dominant role in determining the overall device performance. Our study provides a blueprint for improving device performance through contact engineering and material quality enhancements in emerging GNR-based technology.
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Contact engineering for graphene nanoribbon devices
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December 2023
Research Article|
November 28 2023
Contact engineering for graphene nanoribbon devices
Zafer Mutlu
;
Zafer Mutlu
a)
(Conceptualization, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona
, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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Christina Dinh
;
Christina Dinh
(Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona
, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA
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Gabriela Borin Barin
;
Gabriela Borin Barin
(Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
2
Empa, Swiss Federal Labs for Materials Science and Technology
, Dübendorf, Switzerland
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Peter H. Jacobse
;
Peter H. Jacobse
(Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
3
Department of Physics, UC Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Aravindh Kumar
;
Aravindh Kumar
(Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing)
4
Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
, Stanford, California 94305, USA
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Debanjan Polley
;
Debanjan Polley
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
5
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
6
Department of Physics & Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology
, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu 603203, India
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Hanuman Singh
;
Hanuman Singh
(Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
5
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Ziyi Wang
;
Ziyi Wang
(Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
3
Department of Physics, UC Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Yuxuan Cosmi Lin
;
Yuxuan Cosmi Lin
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – review & editing)
7
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77840, USA
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Adam Schwartzberg
;
Adam Schwartzberg
(Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – review & editing)
8
Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Michael F. Crommie
;
Michael F. Crommie
(Funding acquisition, Investigation, Resources, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona
, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA
3
Department of Physics, UC Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
9
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
10
Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at the University of California Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Klaus Mullen
;
Klaus Mullen
(Investigation, Resources, Writing – review & editing)
11
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
, Mainz, Germany
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Pascal Ruffieux
;
Pascal Ruffieux
(Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
2
Empa, Swiss Federal Labs for Materials Science and Technology
, Dübendorf, Switzerland
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Roman Fasel
;
Roman Fasel
(Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Visualization, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona
, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA
2
Empa, Swiss Federal Labs for Materials Science and Technology
, Dübendorf, Switzerland
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Jeffrey Bokor
Jeffrey Bokor
(Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
5
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
9
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Rev. 10, 041412 (2023)
Article history
Received:
August 15 2023
Accepted:
November 02 2023
Citation
Zafer Mutlu, Christina Dinh, Gabriela Borin Barin, Peter H. Jacobse, Aravindh Kumar, Debanjan Polley, Hanuman Singh, Ziyi Wang, Yuxuan Cosmi Lin, Adam Schwartzberg, Michael F. Crommie, Klaus Mullen, Pascal Ruffieux, Roman Fasel, Jeffrey Bokor; Contact engineering for graphene nanoribbon devices. Appl. Phys. Rev. 1 December 2023; 10 (4): 041412. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0172432
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