Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references. Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2010. / Includes abstract. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 18, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Mid-Infrared thermal emission sources based on graphene were investigated both experimentally and simulated using the finite element method modelling software package COMSOL. Devices were fabricated by transferring graphene onto various substrates. The thermal emission of few-layer and single graphene on SiO2/Si, under a pulsed square wave drive current, was characterised using spatially resolved thermal emission measurements. It was determined that the devices with single-layer graphene maintained characteristic properties of graphene, while few-layer graphene displayed properties typical of a semi-metal. The effect of thermal management on the emission was investigated by comparing simulations to the emission from these devices and a hexagonal boron nitride encapsulated few-layer graphene device. Limiting the vertical heat dissipation was shown to improve device modulation speed. The emission from the graphene devices was determined to be grey-body in nature. Metamaterial structures, including ring resonators and split ring resonators, were integrated with the encapsulated devices in order to narrow the emission spectra. The emission and reflectance of the devices was characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. A tuneable electromagnetically induced transparency like spectral response was observed for devices with metamaterial structures. The resonance peaks were shifted by altering the unit cell parameters. Finally, gallium nitride nano-rod arrays were investigated for the potential to incorporate both spectral control and thermal management into the underlying substrate, in addition to the possibility of the optical generation of graphene plasmons. It was determined that the conventional wet transfer technique was inadequate to transfer the graphene onto the nano-rods. Therefore, a modified transfer technique was utilised, with a significant improvement in the graphene coverage observed. Optical characterisation of the nano-rods using Fourier transform infrared reflectance spectroscopy indicated the excitation of localised surface phonon polaritons, while no evidence was observed in the graphene reflectance spectra of the generation of graphene plasmons.

abstract: Graphene, a one atomic thick planar sheet of carbon atoms, has a zero gap band structure with a linear dispersion relation. This unique property makes graphene a favorite for physicists and engineers, who are trying to understand the mechanism of charge transport in graphene and using it as channel material for field effect transistor (FET) beyond silicon. Therefore, an in-depth exploring of these electrical properties of graphene is urgent, which is the purpose of this dissertation. In this dissertation, the charge transport and quantum capacitance of graphene were studied. Firstly, the transport properties of back-gated graphene transistor covering by high dielectric medium were systematically studied. The gate efficiency increased by up to two orders of magnitude in the presence of a high top dielectric medium, but the mobility did not change significantly. The results strongly suggested that the previously reported top dielectric medium-induced charge transport properties of graphene FETs were possibly due to the increase of gate capacitance, rather than enhancement of carrier mobility. Secondly, a direct measurement of quantum capacitance of graphene was performed. The quantum capacitance displayed a non-zero minimum at the Dirac point and a linear increase on both sides of the minimum with relatively small slopes. The findings - which were not predicted by theory for ideal graphene - suggested that scattering from charged impurities also influences the quantum capacitance. The capacitances in aqueous solutions at different ionic concentrations were also measured, which strongly suggested that the longstanding puzzle about the interfacial capacitance in carbon-based electrodes had a quantum origin. Finally, the transport and quantum capacitance of epitaxial graphene were studied simultaneously, the quantum capacitance of epitaxial graphene was extracted, which was similar to that of exfoliated graphene near the Dirac Point, but exhibited a large sub-linear behavior at high carrier density. The self-consistent theory was found to provide a reasonable description of the transport data of the epitaxial graphene device, but a more complete theory was needed to explain both the transport and quantum capacitance data. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Electrical Engineering 2010

As one of the most promising two-dimensional materials, graphene’s outstanding electrical, mechanical and optical properties have made many new devices possible. Its ultra-thin thickness makes both the fabrication and characterization of graphene-based device challenging. In my thesis, I will discuss different approaches to fabricate and characterize graphene devices for the use in transport and THz radiation devices, as well as strain engineering. These approaches could be potentially used to produce next generation electrical devices, photonics devices and generate ultra-high pseudomagnetic fields. To analyze graphene’s quality, I use multi-variable Raman spectroscopy for identifying graphene’s defect density, strain and doping. A case study of strain redistribution on a silicon dioxide grating with sub-diffraction limit resolution of the strain variation is presented, where atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy are applied for characterization. The strain redistribution is used to determine the strain dependent friction between graphene and the substrate. This work has also lead to more precise determination of the strain and shear response using the 2D phonon band. Improvements of the electrical property of graphene is achieved by using graphene encapsulated between atomically flat hBN layers as well as tuning surface hydrophobicity via substrate salinization. This also provides an improved method to optically determine charge density in graphene with order of magnitude enhancement in sensitivity.

Graphene and structurally similar 2-dimensional (2d) materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and black phosphorus (BP) hold enormous potential for the next generation optoelectronics and photonics. Pairing 2d materials with printing is an emerging cost-effective large-scale device fabrication strategy. However, the current inks are far from ideal to support reproducible device fabrication. In addition, the instability of BP in ambient limits its applications. In this thesis, I present formulation of 2d material inks for inkjet printing for optoelectronic and photonic applications. To begin with, I produce mono- and few-layer 2d material flakes via ultrasonic assisted liquid phase exfoliation. This allows one-step formulation of a polymer stabilised graphene ink. For TMDs and BP, I design a binary solvent carrier for binder-free ink formulation. I show that these 2d material inks have optimal fluidic properties, drying dynamics and interaction with substrates for spatially uniform, highly controllable and print-to-print consistent large-scale printing on untreated substrates. In particular, the rapid ink drying at low temperatures leads to minimal oxidation of BP during ambient printing; the printed BP with passivation retains a stability over one month. On this basis, the printed graphene is employed as active sensing layer in CMOS integrated humidity sensors and as counter-electrodes in dye-sensitised solar cells, while the printed TMDs and BP are used to develop nonlinear photonic devices (i.e. saturable absorbers for femtosecond pulsed laser generation) and visible to near-infrared photodetectors (e.g. MoS$_2$ and BP/graphene/silicon hybrid photodetectors). Beyond inkjet printing, I present an ink formulation of commercial graphene nanoplatelets for roll-to-roll flexographic press ($\sim$100 m min$^{−1}$ printing speed). This allows hundreds of conductive electronic circuits to be printed in a minute for capacitive touchpads. Though I investigate only graphene, TMDs and BP, the ink formulation strategies can be effortlessly transferred to other 2d materials such as boron nitride, MXenes and mica. In addition to the demonstrated applications, printing of 2d materials can be potentially exploited to fabricate devices such as transistors, light emitters, energy storage conversion, and biosensors. This significantly expands the prospect of printable 2d material optoelectronics and photonics.

Graphene and layered two-dimensional (2D) materials have set a new paradigm in modern solid-state physics and technology. In particular their exceptional optical and electronic properties have shown great promise for novel applications in light detection. However, several challenges remain to fully exploit such properties in commercial devices. Such challenges include the limited linear dynamic range (LDR) of graphene-based photodetectors (PDs), the efficient extraction of photoexcited charges and ultimately the environmental stability of such atomically-thin materials. In order to overcome the aforementioned limits, novel approaches to tune the properties of graphene and semiconducting \ce{HfS2} are explored in this work, using chemical functionalisation and laser-irradiation. Intercalation of graphene with \ce{FeCl3} is shown to lead to a highly tunable material, with unprecedented stability in ambient conditions. This material is used to define photo-active junctions with an unprecedented LDR via laser-irradiation. Intercalation with \ce{FeCl3} is also used to demonstrate the first all-graphene position-sensitive photodetector (PSD) promising for novel sensing applications. Finally, laser-irradiation is employed, to perform controlled oxidation of ultra-thin \ce{HfS2}, which leads to induced strain in the material and a consequent spatially-varying bandgap. Such structure is used to demonstrate, for the first time, efficient extraction of photogenerated carriers trough the so-called ``charge-funnel'' effect, paving the way to the development of ultra-thin straintronic devices.

Fiber and matrix-dominant properties of fiber-reinforced polymer composites are important in many advanced technological fields, such as aviation, aerospace, transportation, energy industry, etc. Still, pre-mixing the polymer matrix with nanoparticles may enhance the through-thickness or matrix-dominant properties, and surface treatment of fiber reinforcements with nanoparticles, on the other hand, may improve the in-plane or fiber-dominated properties of laminated composites, as well as interfacial adhesion. A novel manufacturing method that combines a spraying process with nanoparticle/epoxy mixture technique was introduced to incorporate carbon nanoparticles for enhancement of thermal properties of multiscale laminates. Several graphene-based nanomaterials including graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were employed to modify the epoxy matrix and the surface of glass fibers. Multiscale glass fiber-reinforced composites were fabricated from unmodified and modified epoxy, as well as fibers, using the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process. The composites obtained combined improvements in both the fiber and matrix- dominant properties, resulting in superior composites. The morphological, rheological, thermal and mechanical properties of the glass fiber-reinforced multiscale composites were investigated. The thermal properties of the epoxy/nanoparticle composites were studied through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermal conductivity measurements. The tensile, bending, vibration, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and thermal characterization results indicated that the introduction of GNPs, GO, rGO, and MWCNTs enhanced the themo-mechanical properties. The fracture surfaces of the fiber-reinforced composites were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the micrographs were analyzed to comment on the mechanical results.

SENA, Silvia Helena Roberto de. Transporte e estados confinados de portadores de carga em nanoestruturas de grafeno. 2010. 63 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Física) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física, Departamento de Física, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2010. / Submitted by Edvander Pires (edvanderpires@gmail.com) on 2015-10-15T18:18:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_dis_shrsena.pdf: 25739738 bytes, checksum: 888d0934048fb00b5f59e71f4745d983 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Edvander Pires(edvanderpires@gmail.com) on 2015-10-21T20:30:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_dis_shrsena.pdf: 25739738 bytes, checksum: 888d0934048fb00b5f59e71f4745d983 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-21T20:30:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_dis_shrsena.pdf: 25739738 bytes, checksum: 888d0934048fb00b5f59e71f4745d983 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / In this work we investigate the behavior of charge carriers in a graphene sheet subjected to a one-dimensional electrostatic potential U(x). At first we consider two coupled quantum wells potential. For this structure we calculate the energy spectrum for the bound states, as well as the probability density behavior for some particular states. Some results for the electronic transmission coefficient through these structures are also presented. Next, we consider the electrostatic potential as a mutibarrier structure and then a correlated disorder was introduced in the barrier width. For this system, the transmission of these carriers through this potential as well as the conductance are investigated for different disorder strengths. Finally a quasiperiodic supperlattice that follows the Fibonacci serie was taken into account and the results for transmission were also presented for this structure. / Nesse trabalho, investigamos o comportamento dos portadores de carga em uma folha de grafeno quando a mesma encontra-se sujeita à influência de um potencial eletrostático unidimensional U(x). Primeiramente, consideramos dois poços de potencial acoplados por uma barreira central. Para essa estrutura, calculamos o espectro de energia dos estados confinados bem como o comportamento da densidade de probabilidade para alguns estados específicos. Apresentamos também, alguns resultados para o coeficiente de transmissão eletrônico através dessas estruturas. Em seguida, consideramos uma super-rede formada por múltiplas barreiras de potencial e introduzimos uma desordem correlacionada na largura das barreiras. Para esse sistema, resultados para a transmissão dos portadores através dessa estrutura bem como a condutância para vários valores de desordem são apresentados. Finalmente uma super-rede quase-periódica que segue a série de Fibonacci foi considerada e resultados para a transmissão através dessa estrutura também foram apresentados.

Graphene is a single hexagonal atomic carbon layer. Since its discovery, graphene is emerging as an exciting and promising new material to impact various areas of fundamental research and technology. It has potentially useful electrical properties for device applications such as graphene photodetectors and graphene-based sensors. This thesis focuses on the femtosecond laser processing of graphene from both scientific and industrial points of view. Started from the manufacturing process, a new manufacturing route for graphene devices based on a femtosecond laser system is explored. In this thesis, the graphene ablation threshold was determined in the range of 100 mJ/cm2. In this deposited fluence range, selective removal of graphene was achieved using femtosecond laser processing with little damage to the SiO2 /Si substrate. This finding supports the feasibility of direct patterning of graphene for silicon-substrate field effect transistors (FETs) as the gate dielectric, silicon dioxide is only negligibly removed (2~10 nm) and no damage occurs to the silicon. Beyond the selective removal of graphene, the effects of exposing femtosecond laser pulses on a monolayer of graphene deposited on a SiO2/Si substrate is also studied under subthreshold irradiation conditions. It has been demonstrated that a femtosecond laser can induce defects on exposure. The dependence of the D, G, and 2D Raman spectrum lines on various laser pulse energies was evaluated using Raman Spectroscopy. The I (D)/I (G) ratio was seen to increase with increasing laser energy. The increase in the D’ (intravalley phonon and defect scattering) peak at 1620 cm-1 appeared as defective graphene. These findings provide an opportunity for tuning graphene properties locally by applying femtosecond laser pulses. Applications might include p-n junctions, and the graphene doping process. To explore the power absorption process in graphene and the SiO2/Si substrate, a theoretical model was developed based on the transfer-matrix method. The results revealed that the most significant absorption was in the silicon substrate. The light reflection form each layer was considered. The model shows the temperature oscillations are more significant in the silicon layer compared to the silicon dioxide which can provide a theoretical rationale for the swelling effect observed in the experiments. This model can assist in the choice of laser parameters chosen for future laser systems used in the production of graphene devices.