Graphene: Fundamental Research and Applications in Nano-electronics, Photonics and Bio-sciences
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms discovered in 2004 in the UK, is the thinnest known conducting material with unique mechanical, electrical and optical properties governed by unusual and fascinating physics. The discovery of graphene has launched a new era in nanotechnology - the unique properties of graphene can have a vast range of practical applications, from all carbon-based nanoelectronics, which could rival and possibly even replace Si, to medicine and healthcare. We propose to create a UK centre of excellence for graphene research by building on the combined experimental and theoretical expertise of Exeter and Bath Universities, two universities in the South West of England that share strong regional links. Together we have a unique combination of expertise and resources in a broad range of disciplines covering materials physics research: nanoelectronics (including graphene and a range of other carbon-based electronic materials), photonics, nanomagnetism and superconductivity. The 'core' collaboration between Physics and Engineering will expand to embrace Chemistry, Bio-Sciences, and Pharmacy & Pharmacology. Graphene research has already shown itself to be inherently interdisciplinary and the involvement of these additional departments will add a crucial new dimension to the work.The Centre will act as an international focus for graphene science, supporting both academic and industrial research activities. It will create new academic positions and provide a state-of-the-art equipment base, equal to that found in any laboratory worldwide, to attract leading researchers from around the globe. Both Universities have a long term commitment to the development of multi-disciplinary research, and both have set materials research as one of their main strategic directions, with multimillion-pound investments already made in it. Although graphene is a very new research field, we already have several groups with highly successful track-records in the area. New groups, with international standing in their respective domains, from both Institutions, are now being drawn into it and bring their accumulated resources and expertise. The Science and Innovation Award will be distributed between funding new permanent Researcher positions, Post-docs and PhD students, about 25 in total, and completing the infrastructure with top-of-the-range equipment for growth, nanofabrication and nanoscale characterization worth several million pounds. The new staff will be nurtured within a highly supportive environment via interactions with the core members of the centre.The main research directions of the Centre will cover:- all possible ways of producing graphene layers and nanostructures, ranging from chemical, mechanical, to direct growth methods;- exploring the full range of processing techniques to produce graphene structures and devices, ranging from 'bottom-up' atomic scale patterning by scanning probe-based techniques and self-assembly, to 'top-down' nanofabrication using advanced lithographic tools;- a broad spectrum of multi-disciplinary and complementary experiments, that will be supported in parallel by theoretical investigations. These will span from understanding the fundamental physics of graphene, to understanding the behaviour of complex systems and devices involving graphene;- coupling graphene with other topical disciplines in Nanoscience and at the life-sciences interface;- ensuring that there is knowledge transfer and industrial applications of graphene are generated. The Award will also support the creation of a network of International Associate Members of the Centre, including both those working on graphene as well as those in closely related domains that will promote cross-fertilization of ideas. A subset of the international associate members will be invited to sit on an Advisory Board which will meet annually to review the progress of the Centre and guide its development.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Lead Research Organisation)
- HEFCE (Co-funder)
- CARDIFF UNIVERSITY (Project Partner)
- University of Oxford (Project Partner)
- Raith gmbh (Project Partner)
- University of California, San Diego (Project Partner)
- National Physical Laboratory (Project Partner)
- Renishaw (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Shioya H
(2012)
Gate tunable non-linear currents in bilayer graphene diodes
in Applied Physics Letters
Somov A
(2017)
Smart textile: Exploration of wireless sensing capabilities
Torres Alonso E
(2016)
Homogeneously Bright, Flexible, and Foldable Lighting Devices with Functionalized Graphene Electrodes.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Townsend N
(2018)
Sub 20 meV Schottky barriers in metal/MoTe 2 junctions
in 2D Materials
Townsend N
(2019)
Energy dispersive spectroscopic measurement of charge traps in MoTe 2
in Physical Review B
Wang Y
(2013)
Observing atomic collapse resonances in artificial nuclei on graphene.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Wehenkel DJ
(2015)
Unforeseen high temperature and humidity stability of FeCl3 intercalated few layer graphene.
in Scientific reports
Weick G
(2013)
Dirac-like plasmons in honeycomb lattices of metallic nanoparticles.
in Physical review letters
Withers F
(2011)
Tuning the electronic transport properties of grapheme through functionalisation with fluorine.
in Nanoscale research letters
Withers F
(2011)
Nanopatterning of fluorinated graphene by electron beam irradiation.
in Nano letters
Withers F
(2013)
All-Graphene Photodetectors
in ACS Nano
Withers F
(2014)
Electron transport of WS2 transistors in a hexagonal boron nitride dielectric environment
in Scientific Reports
Wu Y
(2017)
Self-consistent charge and dipole density functional tight binding method and application to carbon-based systems
in Computational Materials Science
Zaki AJ
(2018)
Defined covalent assembly of protein molecules on graphene using a genetically encoded photochemical reaction handle.
in RSC advances
Zhukova MO
(2019)
Transmission Properties of FeCl3-Intercalated Graphene and WS2 Thin Films for Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy Applications.
in Nanoscale research letters
Description | The infrastructure and scientific knowledge developed by the EPSRC/HEFEC funding for the Exeter Centre for Graphene Science has supported the birth of the spin out activity Concrene limited aimed at commercializing graphene reinforced concrete. This commercial activity was founded by Dr Dimov Dimitar in 2014, and it builds on a portfolio of patented technology which Dr Dimitar has pioneered as part of his PhD work under the supervision of Prof Craciun (Engineering, Exeter) and Prof Russo (Physics, Exeter). In March 2021 Concrene Limited has entered the US market with Fairview Hearthside, a licensee of the innovative nanotechnology, manufacturing a range of Concrene® precast fire pits for private homes and professional outdoor venues. This strengthens the commercial portfolio of Concrene Ltd, strong of a 2020 exclusive agreement with Thomas Swan - one of the global graphene leaders and also leading UK independent chemical manufacturer. Michael Edwards, Commercial Director - Advanced Materials at Thomas Swan said "we are delighted to be working with Concrene in this exciting partnership. With 8% of the World's carbon emissions emanating from concrete production, this demonstrates a tangible commitment to our internal goal of achieving Carbon Net Zero by 2030, in addition to carefully expanding our focused application base. The team at Concrene will drive our GNP dispersion options in multiple regions, consolidating our position as a global volume manufacturer of graphene |
First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Title | Dataset for "Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d single crystals with pancake vortices" |
Description | Datasets underpinning the 6 Figures for "Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d single crystals with pancake vortices" in Scientific Reports. The primary data files are scanning Hall microscopy (SHM) images of pancake vortices catured at a temperature of 85K. Also included are graphs of vortex chain spacing and the estimated effective anisotropy extracted from the SHM images as a function of applied magnetic field. Simulation results for the vortex chain spacing as a function of applied magnetic field arising from the model described in the Supporting Materials are also included. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | Lattice dynamics of the rhenium and technetium dichalcogenides |
Description | The rhenium and technetium dichalcogenides are layered van der Waals semiconductors which show a large number of Raman-active zone centre phonon modes as a result of their unusually large unit cells and deviation from hexagonal symmetry. They thus offer the possibility of introducing in-plane anisotropy into composite heterostructures based on van der Waals materials, and Raman spectroscopy is generally used to determine their in-plane orientation. We show that first principles calculations give a good description of the lattice dynamics of this family of materials and thus predict the zone-center phonon frequencies and Raman activities of TcS2. We consider the distribution of the phonon modes in frequency and their atomic displacements, and give a unified understanding of the phonon frequencies and Raman spectra of ReS2, TcS2 and ReSe2 in terms of the scaling of Raman frequency with the chalcogen mass. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | Rhenium Dichalcogenides: Layered Semiconductors with Two Vertical Orientations |
Description | Raw data for Nano Letters DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b04838 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |