Observing the evolution of graphene layers at high current density

Chun Wei Huang; Jui Yuan Chen; Chung Hua Chiu; Cheng Lun Hsin; Tseung-Yuen Tseng; Wen-Wei Wu

doi:10.1007/s12274-016-1237-0

Observing the evolution of graphene layers at high current density

Chun Wei Huang, Jui Yuan Chen, Chung Hua Chiu, Cheng Lun Hsin, Tseung-Yuen Tseng, Wen-Wei Wu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Graphene has demonstrated its potential in several practical applications owing to its remarkable electronic and physical properties. In this study, we successfully fabricated a suspended graphene device with a width down to 20 nm. The morphological evolution of graphene under various electric field effects was systematically examined using an in-situ transmission electron microscope (TEM). The hourglass-shaped graphene sample instantly broke apart at 7.5 mA, indicating an impressive breakdown current density. The current-carrying capacity was calculated to be ~1.6 × 10⁹ A·cm^–2, which is several orders higher than that of copper. The current-carrying capacity depended on the resistivity of graphene. In addition, atomic volume changes occurred in the multilayer graphene samples due to surface diffusion and Ostwald ripening (OR), indicating that the breakdown mechanism is well approximated by the electric field. This study not only provides a theory to explain the breakdown behavior but also presents the effects on materials contacted with a graphene layer used as the transmission path. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3663-3670
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nano Research
Volume	9
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1237-0
State	Published - 1 Dec 2016

Keywords

Ostwald ripening
breakdown
graphene
high current density
in-situ transmission electron microscope (TEM)

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10.1007/s12274-016-1237-0

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title = "Observing the evolution of graphene layers at high current density",

abstract = "Graphene has demonstrated its potential in several practical applications owing to its remarkable electronic and physical properties. In this study, we successfully fabricated a suspended graphene device with a width down to 20 nm. The morphological evolution of graphene under various electric field effects was systematically examined using an in-situ transmission electron microscope (TEM). The hourglass-shaped graphene sample instantly broke apart at 7.5 mA, indicating an impressive breakdown current density. The current-carrying capacity was calculated to be ~1.6 × 109 A·cm–2, which is several orders higher than that of copper. The current-carrying capacity depended on the resistivity of graphene. In addition, atomic volume changes occurred in the multilayer graphene samples due to surface diffusion and Ostwald ripening (OR), indicating that the breakdown mechanism is well approximated by the electric field. This study not only provides a theory to explain the breakdown behavior but also presents the effects on materials contacted with a graphene layer used as the transmission path. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]",

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author = "Huang, {Chun Wei} and Chen, {Jui Yuan} and Chiu, {Chung Hua} and Hsin, {Cheng Lun} and Tseung-Yuen Tseng and Wen-Wei Wu",

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AU - Huang, Chun Wei

AU - Chen, Jui Yuan

AU - Chiu, Chung Hua

AU - Hsin, Cheng Lun

AU - Tseng, Tseung-Yuen

AU - Wu, Wen-Wei

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - Graphene has demonstrated its potential in several practical applications owing to its remarkable electronic and physical properties. In this study, we successfully fabricated a suspended graphene device with a width down to 20 nm. The morphological evolution of graphene under various electric field effects was systematically examined using an in-situ transmission electron microscope (TEM). The hourglass-shaped graphene sample instantly broke apart at 7.5 mA, indicating an impressive breakdown current density. The current-carrying capacity was calculated to be ~1.6 × 109 A·cm–2, which is several orders higher than that of copper. The current-carrying capacity depended on the resistivity of graphene. In addition, atomic volume changes occurred in the multilayer graphene samples due to surface diffusion and Ostwald ripening (OR), indicating that the breakdown mechanism is well approximated by the electric field. This study not only provides a theory to explain the breakdown behavior but also presents the effects on materials contacted with a graphene layer used as the transmission path. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

AB - Graphene has demonstrated its potential in several practical applications owing to its remarkable electronic and physical properties. In this study, we successfully fabricated a suspended graphene device with a width down to 20 nm. The morphological evolution of graphene under various electric field effects was systematically examined using an in-situ transmission electron microscope (TEM). The hourglass-shaped graphene sample instantly broke apart at 7.5 mA, indicating an impressive breakdown current density. The current-carrying capacity was calculated to be ~1.6 × 109 A·cm–2, which is several orders higher than that of copper. The current-carrying capacity depended on the resistivity of graphene. In addition, atomic volume changes occurred in the multilayer graphene samples due to surface diffusion and Ostwald ripening (OR), indicating that the breakdown mechanism is well approximated by the electric field. This study not only provides a theory to explain the breakdown behavior but also presents the effects on materials contacted with a graphene layer used as the transmission path. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

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Observing the evolution of graphene layers at high current density

Abstract

Keywords

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