Juhwan Lim

Clean transfer of graphene and its effect on contact resistance

We demonstrate herein an effective method of forming a high-quality contact between metal and graphene on a wafer as large as 6 in. This gold-assisted transfer method producing no polymer residue on the graphene surface is introduced, and then the gold film is used directly as an electrode to form the transfer length method pattern for calculating the contact resistance. The graphene surface obtained using the gold-assisted transfer method is clean and uniform without residue or contamination, and its contact resistance is at least 60% lower than that obtained using the conventional poly(methyl methacrylate) assisted transfer method.

Post-heating effects on the physical and electrochemical capacitive properties of reduced graphene oxide paper

We report combined electrochemical double-layer capacitance (EDLC) and pseudocapacitance in reduced graphene oxide (rGO) thick film like paper due to annealing temperature variations. The influence of annealing temperature (from room temperature (RT) to 1000 °C) on the structural, morphological, electrical, and electrochemical properties of rGO paper was evaluated. Upon increasing the annealing temperature, shifting of the dominant (002) X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak to a higher degree, volume expansion, and red-shifting of the G band in Raman spectra were observed. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images showed a reduction in the interlayer distance in rGO sheets from 0.369 to 0.349 nm as the annealing temperature increased from RT to 1000 °C; these results were congruent with the XRD results. According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the presence of hydroxyl, carboxyl, and other oxygen-containing groups decreased in samples annealed at higher temperatures. The attached functional groups, the electrical conductivity, and the supercapacitance of rGO papers were found to be mutually interrelated and could be tuned by varying the annealing temperature. The rGO paper annealed at 200 °C in a 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte at a scan rate of 50 mV s−1 exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 198 F g−1.

Radio frequency based label-free detection of glucose

We investigated the frequency based mediator-free glucose sensor in the radio-frequency (RF) range. Frequency dependent power signal showed clear dependence on the glucose concentration with free enzymatic condition. Also, the passive electrical components such as the resistance, inductance, shunt conductance, and capacitance were extracted based on the transmission line model for further analysis. These various parameters proposed by the signal processing provided more effective verification for instant multi-components in-situ readings without any added supporters. Additionally the residual signal (RS), impedance (Z), and propagation constant (γ) were also calculated from measured S-parameters for glucose analysis. These parameters basically showed amplitude variation and interestingly, some parameters such as inductance and impedance showed frequency shift of resonance dip. The results support that the frequency based sensing technique including the parameter based analysis can enable effective multi-dimensional detection of glucose. Moreover, this technique showed that glucose sensing is also possible over a diabetic patients serum.

Controlling the luminescence emission from palladium grafted graphene oxide thin films via reduction

The role of palladium (Pd) in the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) thin films was investigated using a Pd assisted grafting technique. The structural and optical characteristics of these thin films were obtained from various spectroscopic analyses, which confirmed increased C[double bond, length as m-dash]C-C aromatic ring vibration and oxidation of Pd with Ar annealing. In Pd free GO, annealing of films resulted in restoration of sp(2) clusters; however, Pd grafting with non-annealed film enhanced the possibility of restoration and further annealing dramatically increased the restoration rate with enhanced blue photoluminescence (PL) emission. The blue PL emission originates from sp(2) cluster sites and the yellow-green PL from defect trapped states. As reduction of GO increased, yellow-green emission decreased and blue PL became the prominent emission. These experimental findings open up a new feasible pathway for controlling the luminescence emission from graphene oxide that furthers the technological advancement of graphene based optoelectronic devices.

Substrate and buffer layer effect on the structural and optical properties of graphene oxide thin films

Graphene oxide (GO) thin films on various substrates show surprising variations of their structural and optical properties. These variations were also studied by depositing GO via introducing a gold nanoparticles buffer layer on quartz substrate. The effect of the substrate as well as buffer layer results in short range order crystallization in deposited GO films with an increase in inter-planar spacing. XPS analysis shows that GO undergoes reduction when spin coated on ITO/glass substrate. The deposited GO films exhibit luminescence emission, and the introduction of gold buffer layer results in a blue shift of the photoluminescent emission spectra. The GO on gold buffer layer shows almost constant optical absorption in the whole visible spectral region like graphene. The present study indicates that buffer layer effects and the interaction between different substrates and GO is strong enough to affect the oxygen linkages in GO which in turn changes its structural and optical properties, which may find potential application in graphene based optoelectronic device fabrication.

Terahertz and optical study of monolayer graphene processed by plasma oxidation

We report on our terahertz and optical study of monolayer graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition and processed by plasma oxidation. The plasma oxidation induces oxygen-related defects, and the resulting disorder increases the sheet resistance of graphene as measured via terahertz spectroscopy. The excitonic absorption peak weakens considerably and blue shifts upon plasma oxidation, resulting in higher transmittance in both the visible and ultraviolet regions. Our oxygen plasma-treated graphene also exhibits a free-carrier doping effect as confirmed by the blue shift of the Raman G band.

Terahertz, optical, and Raman signatures of monolayer graphene behavior in thermally reduced graphene oxide films

We report on our joint spectroscopic study of the thermal reduction process of quasi-monolayer graphene oxide films grown on fused silica substrates by spin-coating. We estimate that about 65% of our film area consists of monolayer platelets of reduced graphene oxide, based on our quantitative analysis of the local atomic force microscopy topography. With thermal annealing under suitable conditions, clear signatures of monolayer graphene behavior were identified in the resonant excitonic absorption at 4.55 eV, the overall decrease in the visible-range transmission, the re-emergence of the Raman 2D band, the red-shift of the Raman G band toward the monolayer position, and the decrease in the optical sheet resistance in the terahertz range.

Tunable wide blue photoluminescence with europium decorated graphene

The current paper describes europium decorated graphene (EuG) which provides high and wide blue emission at 400 nm and 458 nm. The chemical and structural properties of the products are characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV–Vis spectrometery are employed to analyze the optical properties. The photoluminescence features are investigated using the excitation/emission spectra and fluorescence microscopy images. The photoluminescence intensity of EuG with the bright fluorescent nature of europium is higher than that of reduced graphene oxide. The transition of trivalent europium (Eu3+) that leads to the radiation of light with a 590 nm wavelength can be turned into a 4f–4f transition of divalent (Eu2+) europium upon heating in the presence of the graphene sheet, which assists the reduction of the europium ion. The enhancement of the blue emission at 458 nm with quenching in the red at 590 nm is affected by the modification of properties (by → via) the europium–graphene composite concentration and external thermal energy. The result suggests a new possibility for the fluorescence characteristics of the lanthanide–graphene nanocomposite that can be applied to the display, optoelectronic devices, and bio-imaging fields. The temperature-tunable photoluminescence characteristics can be used as a non-contact thermal sensor.

Comparison of Chemical Vapor Sensing Properties between Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes

We demonstrated the chemical-vapor sensing properties of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by comparing their performances based on the two-dimensional exposure ratio. In order to implement the gas sensing, two kinds of sensors were properly prepared via the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and CNT-dispersing methods, which cover different sensing area each other. Although the area of graphene is three times smaller than that of CNTs, the excellent sensing performance of graphene in the various concentration of the target gas is shown in terms of the sensitivity, the reactivity, and response time. We concluded this experimental result by focusing on the surface to volume ratio.

Biotin-streptavidin detection with a graphene-oxide supported radio-frequency resonator

The detection of biotin-streptavidin binding was demonstrated by the resonance frequency measurement of a simple resonance circuit using graphene oxide dielectric. The resonance frequency was decreased to the lower frequency range as biotin and streptavidin were bound to the graphene oxide film. Graphene oxide dielectric provides dual advantages including quality-factor enhancement and high affinity for bio sensing. It was revealed that an increase in capacitance of the graphene oxide sheet was mainly responsible for the resonance frequency shift. The sensitivity to the capacitance change in the frequency-based detection technique can enable the advanced biosensing applications using graphene oxide sheet.