Extrinsic morphology of graphene

TL;DR

This paper reviews how external factors like substrate features and nanoscale scaffolds influence the extrinsic morphology of graphene, which is crucial for tuning its electronic properties in nanoelectronics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent modeling and experimental studies on extrinsic graphene morphology under various external regulations.

Findings

External regulation can control graphene's morphology.

Substrate features significantly influence graphene corrugation.

Nanoscale scaffolds enable precise morphology tuning.

Abstract

Graphene is intrinsically non-flat and corrugates randomly. Since the corrugating physics of atomically-thin graphene is strongly tied to its electronics properties, randomly corrugating morphology of graphene poses significant challenge to its application in nanoelectronic devices for which precise (digital) control is the key. Recent studies revealed that the morphology of substrate-supported graphene is regulated by the graphene-substrate interaction, thus is distinct from the random intrinsic morphology of freestanding graphene. The regulated extrinsic morphology of graphene sheds light on new pathways to fine tune the properties of graphene. To guide further research to explore these fertile opportunities, this paper reviews recent progress on modeling and experimental studies of the extrinsic morphology of graphene under a wide range of external regulation, including two dimensional and one dimensional substrate surface features and one dimensional and zero dimensional nanoscale scaffolds (e.g., nanowires and nanoparticles).