Graphene Nanostructuring and Electronic Properties

Graphene, a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, exhibits exceptional charge-carrier mobility and mechanical strength but lacks an intrinsic bandgap. To tailor its electronic behaviour for device applications, researchers have devised nanostructuring strategies that impose periodic perturbations on the lattice. Techniques such as the creation of antidot lattices, nanoporous meshes and Moiré superlattices introduce quantum confinement and Brillouin-zone folding, opening tunable bandgaps and modifying dispersion relations. Strain engineering and heterostructure assembly further broaden the design space, enabling reversible switching between semimetallic and semiconducting states. Such control over energy bands has profound implications for field-effect transistors, sensors, optoelectronic components and energy-harvesting systems, marrying academic insight with industrial promise.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated that superlattice design combining uniaxial strain with a periodic array of nanoscale perforations allows precise movement of the Dirac cone and continuous tuning of the bandgap. By varying strain, the gap can be opened and closed at the Brillouin-zone centre, enabling reversible on/off switching of massless fermion transport characteristics. In bilayer heterostructures comprising graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, theoretical modelling of folded nanoscale holes reveals that edge bonding and hole geometry dictate whether the system behaves as a semiconductor or metal. These findings provide a roadmap for engineering two-dimensional nanomaterials with bespoke electronic functionalities.

Graphene Nanostructuring and Electronic Properties publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in graphene nanostructuring and electronic properties across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Graphene nanomesh: A monolayer of graphene patterned with a regular array of nanopores to modify its electronic structure.

Antidot lattice: A periodic arrangement of holes etched into graphene that can induce a bandgap and alter transport properties.

Dirac cone: The conical energy–momentum relation at the K points of pristine graphene responsible for its massless charge carriers.

Bandgap: The energy interval between the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum in a material.

Quantum confinement: The restriction of charge carriers in reduced dimensions, leading to discrete energy levels and modified conductance.

References

1. Graphene Monolayer Nanomesh Structures and Their Applications in Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting for Solving the Matching Conundrum of Rectennas. Nanomaterials (2024).
2. Optical excitations and thermoelectric properties of two-dimensional holey graphene. Physical Review B (2020).
3. Electronic properties of graphene antidot lattices. New Journal of Physics (2009).
4. Dirac cone move and bandgap on/off switching of graphene superlattice. Scientific Reports (2016).
5. Bilayered graphene/h-BN with folded holes as new nanoelectronic materials: modeling of structures and electronic properties. Scientific Reports (2016).
6. First-principles on the energy band mechanism for modifying conduction property of graphene nanomeshes. Acta Physica Sinica (2020).