title: Development of an ultra-thin film comprised of a graphene membrane and carbon nanotube vein support.
abstract: Graphene, exhibiting superior mechanical, thermal, optical and electronic properties, has attracted great interest. Considering it being one-atom-thick, and the reduced mechanical strength at grain boundaries, the fabrication of large-area suspended chemical vapour deposition graphene remains a challenge. Here we report the fabrication of an ultra-thin free-standing carbon nanotube/graphene hybrid film, inspired by the vein-membrane structure found in nature. Such a square-centimetre-sized hybrid film can realize the overlaying of large-area single-layer chemical vapour deposition graphene on to a porous vein-like carbon nanotube network. The vein-membrane-like hybrid film, with graphene suspended on the carbon nanotube meshes, possesses excellent mechanical performance, optical transparency and good electrical conductivity. The ultra-thin hybrid film features an electron transparency close to 90%, which makes it an ideal gate electrode in vacuum electronics and a high-performance sample support in transmission electron microscopy.
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Qunqing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Jiaping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Shoushan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Kaili
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004583:Electrons; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D006108:Graphite