Geonyeop Lee

Electrical transport through 60 base pairs of poly(dG)-poly(dC) DNA molecules

We report electrical transport through 60 base pairs of poly~dG!-poly~dC! DNA molecules. The DNA solution is dropped on two metal electrodes with the gap of 20 nm. The current‐voltage characteristics measured between the electrodes exhibits clear staircases, which are reproducible over repeated measurements. The size of the observed staircases is consistent with the energy gap obtained from a tight binding calculation.

Wafer-scale synthesis of multi-layer graphene by high-temperature carbon ion implantation

We report on the synthesis of wafer-scale (4 in. in diameter) high-quality multi-layer graphene using high-temperature carbon ion implantation on thin Ni films on a substrate of SiO2/Si. Carbon ions were bombarded at 20 keV and a dose of 1 × 1015 cm−2 onto the surface of the Ni/SiO2/Si substrate at a temperature of 500 °C. This was followed by high-temperature activation annealing (600–900 °C) to form a sp2-bonded honeycomb structure. The effects of post-implantation activation annealing conditions were systematically investigated by micro-Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Carbon ion implantation at elevated temperatures allowed a lower activation annealing temperature for fabricating large-area graphene. Our results indicate that carbon-ion implantation provides a facile and direct route for integrating graphene with Si microelectronics.

Defect-engineered graphene chemical sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity

We report defect-engineered graphene chemical sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity (e.g., 33% improvement in NO2 sensing and 614% improvement in NH3 sensing). A conventional reactive ion etching system was used to introduce the defects in a controlled manner. The sensitivity of graphene-based chemical sensors increased with increasing defect density until the vacancy-dominant region was reached. In addition, the mechanism of gas sensing was systematically investigated via experiments and density functional theory calculations, which indicated that the vacancy defect is a major contributing factor to the enhanced sensitivity. This study revealed that defect engineering in graphene has significant potential for fabricating ultra-sensitive graphene chemical sensors.

Precise control of defects in graphene using oxygen plasma

The authors report on a facile method for introducing defects in graphene in a controlled manner. Samples were mounted face down between supports, and exposed to oxygen plasma in a reactive ion etching (RIE) system. Defect density and the rate of defect formation in graphene were analyzed according to the oxygen flow rates and power conditions, using Raman spectroscopy. The mechanism of defect formation was systematically investigated via both experiment and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Based on our DFT results, sp3 oxygen in the epoxide form would most likely be induced in pristine graphene after exposure to the oxygen plasma. Defect engineering through the fine tuning of the graphene disorder using a conventional RIE system has great potential for use in various graphene-based applications.

Tuning the thickness of exfoliated quasi-two-dimensional β-Ga2O3 flakes by plasma etching

We demonstrated the thinning of exfoliated quasi-two-dimensional β-Ga2O3 flakes by using a reactive ion etching technique. Mechanical exfoliation of the bulk β-Ga2O3 by using an adhesive tape was followed by plasma etching to tune its thickness. Since β-Ga2O3 is not a van der Waals material, it is challenging to obtain ultra-thin flakes below a thickness of 100 nm. In this study, an etch rate of approximately 16 nm/min was achieved at a power of 200 W with a flow of 50 sccm of SF6, and under these conditions, thinning of β-Ga2O3 flakes from 300 nm down to ∼60 nm was achieved with smooth morphology. We believe that the reaction between SF6 and Ga2O3 results in oxygen and volatile oxygen fluoride compounds, and non-volatile compounds such as GaFX that can be removed by ion bombardment. The opto-electrical properties were also characterized by fabricating solar-blind photodetectors using the plasma-thinned β-Ga2O3 flakes; these detectors showed fast response and decay with excellent responsivity and selectiv...

Platinum-functionalized black phosphorus hydrogen sensors

Black phosphorus (BP), especially in its two-dimensional (2D) form, is an intriguing material because it exhibits higher chemical sensing ability as compared to other thin-film and 2D materials. However, its implementation into hydrogen sensors has been limited due to its insensitivity toward hydrogen. We functionalized exfoliated BP flakes with Pt nanoparticles to improve their hydrogen sensing efficiency. Pt-functionalized BP sensors with back-gated field-effect transistor configuration exhibited a fast response/decay, excellent reproducibility, and high sensitivities (over 50%) at room temperature. Langmuir isotherm model was employed to analyze the Pt-catalyzed BP sensors. Furthermore, the activation energy of hydrogen adsorption on Pt-decorated BP was evaluated, which is equal to the change in work function resulting from hydrogen adsorption on the Pt(111) surface. These results demonstrate that Pt-catalyzed BP exhibits a great potential for next-generation hydrogen sensors.

Two-Dimensionally Layered p-Black Phosphorus/n-MoS2/p-Black Phosphorus Heterojunctions

Layered heterojunctions are widely applied as fundamental building blocks for semiconductor devices. For the construction of nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices, the implementation of two-dimensional materials (2DMs) is essential. However, studies of junction devices composed of 2DMs are still largely focused on single p-n junction devices. In this study, we demonstrate a novel pnp double heterojunction fabricated by the vertical stacking of 2DMs (black phosphorus (BP) and MoS2) using dry-transfer techniques and the formation of high-quality p-n heterojunctions between the BP and MoS2 in the vertically stacked BP/MoS2/BP structure. The pnp double heterojunctions allowed us to modulate the output currents by controlling the input current. These results can be applied for the fabrication of advanced heterojunction devices composed of 2DMs for nano(opto)electronics.