Electronic transport in monolayer graphene nanoribbons producedby chemical unzipping of carbon nanotubes

• Published in: Applied physics letters 2009-12, Vol.95 (25), p.253108-253108-3
• Main Authors: Sinitskii, Alexander, Fursina, Alexandra A., Kosynkin, Dmitry V., Higginbotham, Amanda L., Natelson, Douglas, Tour, James M.
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.3276912

We report on the structural and electrical properties of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) produced by the oxidative unzipping of carbon nanotubes. GNRs were reduced by hydrazine at 95 ° C and further annealed in Ar / H 2 at 900 ° C ; monolayer ribbons were selected for the fabrication of electronic devices. GNR devices on Si / SiO 2 substrates exhibit an ambipolar electric field effect typical for graphene. The conductivity of monolayer GNRs ( ∼ 35   S / cm ) and mobility of charge carriers ( 0.5 - 3   cm 2 / V s ) are less than the conductivity and mobility of pristine graphene, which could be explained by oxidative damage caused by the harsh H 2 SO 4 / KMnO 4 used to make GNRs. The resistance of GNR devices increases by about three orders of magnitude upon cooling from 300 to 20 K. The resistance/temperature data is consistent with the variable range hopping mechanism, which, along with the microscopy data, suggests that the GNRs have a nonuniform structure.