Graphene, identified a method for the patterning of at room temperature circuits

Despite the graphene can be produced with relative ease thanks to the vapors from chemical deposition technique (CVD) on a copper substrate, the researchers have always had difficulty in finding an easy way to hack the desired circuit pattern in the graphene and transfer a non-metallic substrate.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagin however, claim to have developed a simple process that allows you to quickly perform the patterning of circuits and their trasfermiento on flexible substrates using a common masking. Keong Yong, a graduate student who worked on the rierca, commented: "The desired micro-patterns are designed using CAD software, which allows the use of a commercial laser connected to the computer to create a shadow mask corresponding to the circuit design."

Once made, the shadow mask is placed on the graphene deposited on the copper substrate, so that the patterns can be engraved on graphene with an oxygen plasma. The graphene so etched is transferred on a flexible substrate using a lamination process that ensures optimal contact and allows the removal of copper. This approach allows to reduce the production steps and consequently the overall time required and eliminates the need of having to prepare a microfabrication process and having to use a "scaffolding" of polymers, which allows to realize a graphene of greater purity.

Currently there is no limitation to the size of the graphene chip that can be achieved using this method, but there is a limit to the resolution of the shadow mask which for now can only be realized in the order of microns in size, instead of nanometers as the circuits in silicon today. "We were able to realize various reasons on graphene at different pushing up to 50 microns."

The next goal of the researchers is ovvimanete to reduce the size of the shadow mask, and to build actual devices that demonstrate the concept that it may be possible to realize operational circuitry in graphene using relatively inexpensive equipment than is possible today.