title: Electroburning of few-layer graphene flakes, epitaxial graphene, and turbostratic graphene discs in air and under vacuum.
abstract: Graphene-based electrodes are very promising for molecular electronics and spintronics. Here we report a systematic characterization of the electroburning (EB) process, leading to the formation of nanometer-spaced gaps, on different types of few-layer graphene (namely mechanically exfoliated graphene on SiO2, graphene epitaxially grown on the C-face of SiC and turbostratic graphene discs deposited on SiO2) under air and vacuum conditions. The EB process is found to depend on both the graphene type and on the ambient conditions. For the mechanically exfoliated graphene, performing EB under vacuum leads to a higher yield of nanometer-gap formation than working in air. Conversely, for graphene on SiC the EB process is not successful under vacuum. Finally, the EB is possible with turbostratic graphene discs only after the creation of a constriction in the sample using lithographic patterning.
authors.affiliation: Centro S3, Istituto Nanoscienze - CNR, Via Campi 213/a, 41125 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Candini
authors.affiliation: Johannes Gutenberg Universität-Mainz, Institut für Physik, Staudinger Weg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany ; Graduate School of Excellence Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ), Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanotechnology Innovation @ NEST, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Convertino
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanotechnology Innovation @ NEST, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coletti
authors.affiliation: Institut Néel, CNRS and Université Joseph Fourier, B.P. 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 09, France ; Institut Universitaire de France, 103 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Balestro
authors.affiliation: Institut Néel, CNRS and Université Joseph Fourier, B.P. 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wernsdorfer
authors.affiliation: Johannes Gutenberg Universität-Mainz, Institut für Physik, Staudinger Weg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany ; Graduate School of Excellence Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ), Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kläui
authors.affiliation: Centro S3, Istituto Nanoscienze - CNR, Via Campi 213/a, 41125 Modena, Italy ; Dipartimento di scienze Fisiche Informatiche e Matematiche, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/a, 41125 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Affronte
keywords: graphene; graphene based electrodes; molecular electronics; molecular spintronics
references.citation: Nano Lett. 2011 Nov 9;11(11):4607-11
references.pmid: 22011188
references.citation: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2012 Dec 3;51(49):12228-32
references.pmid: 23125110
references.citation: Science. 2014 Jun 6;344(6188):1135-8
references.pmid: 24904159
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Dec 31;101(26):267601
references.pmid: 19437673
references.citation: Nat Nanotechnol. 2013 Jun;8(6):381-4
references.pmid: 23736208
references.citation: Nat Nanotechnol. 2013 Jun;8(6):378-81
references.pmid: 23736207
references.citation: Nanoscale. 2014 Jul 7;6(13):7249-54
references.pmid: 24898877
references.citation: Nat Nanotechnol. 2009 Sep;4(9):551-6
references.pmid: 19734925
references.citation: Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2014 Oct 14;16(38):20398-401
references.pmid: 25148291
references.citation: Nano Lett. 2008 Oct;8(10):3345-9
references.pmid: 18729415
references.citation: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Apr 2;52(14):3906-10
references.pmid: 23460546
references.citation: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Aug 12;52(33):8666-70
references.pmid: 23818452
references.citation: J Phys Chem Lett. 2013 Mar 7;4(5):809-14
references.pmid: 26281937
references.citation: Nat Nanotechnol. 2013 Jun;8(6):399-410
references.pmid: 23736215
references.citation: Nat Mater. 2008 Mar;7(3):179-86
references.pmid: 18297126
references.citation: Chem Soc Rev. 2014 Nov 7;43(21):7378-411
references.pmid: 25099384