Unique encapsulation may advance graphene devices

Researchers from AMO GmbH and Graphenea SE demonstrated a unique encapsulation technique that enables highly reproducible operation of graphene devices in normal atmosphere for several months. This encapsulation may help in solving one of the major problems of graphene-based devices - sensitivity to environmental elements like humidity or gases.

 

The researchers investigated the encapsulation of graphene field effect devices using aluminum oxide, an encapsulation material well known for OLEDs. This study shows the growth of an oxide layer using a properly in-situ oxidized aluminum seed layer. The employed passivation layer is able to persistently stabilize the device characteristics over several months in ambient atmosphere. This is a major step towards the use of graphene devices in real applications.

The work is financially supported by the European Commission under the projects GRAFOL, Flagship Graphene, and by the German Science Foundation under the project Ultragraphen.

Source: nanowerk