Electrical properties of grahene sheets (2009)

Undergraduate: Alan Liu

Faculty Advisor: Sean Washburn
Department: Physics & Astronomy

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Carbon nanotubes and, more recently, graphene sheets (single atom thick carbon planes) are two of the most promising materials in current nanoscience research in their potential for incorporation into novel electronic and nanomechanical devices. An interesting study would be to investigate the effects of both carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets on a nano-scale electric circuit. To this effect, graphene and multi-wall carbon nanotubes have been deposited onto a silicon wafer and electrical contacts have been made with the two materials. Current challenges to this procedure involve the difficulty in visualizing systems at such a small scale, in the high precision required to manipulate such systems, and in the fragility of nano-sized objects.