Optoelectronic Properties of Graphene: Light Interaction and Emission

• Author / Creator

  Beltaos, Angela M

• Graphene has created much excitement in the scientific community since 2004, when Novoselov and Geim developed a method to exfoliate atomic layers from graphite, earning them the 2010 Nobel prize. The great interest in graphene stems from its outstanding material properties such as atomic thickness, high mechanical strength and good electrical conductivity, making it potentially useful for a variety of applications. The combination of such properties is particularly attractive in the field of optoelectronics, and research in this area will likely increase in the future. In this thesis, the optoelectronic properties of graphene were investigated experimentally through studies of light interaction and light emission. Light interaction with graphene was performed by a femtosecond laser and the resulting damage effects and induced periodic surface structures were investigated. Light emission was excited by applying voltage to graphene devices and measured by spectroscopy and imaging techniques. Graphene samples were fabricated by mechanical exfoliation, and incorporated into field effect transistors by electron beam vapor deposition of patterned electrodes. Characterization techniques included Raman spectroscopy, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electronic measurements. Key results included the demonstration of patterning graphene by ultrafast laser interaction, determination of the laser ablation threshold, the first observation of laser induced periodic surface structures on graphene, and the characterization of visible light emission from graphene field effect transistors. The results supported a light emission mechanism based on a recent theory; the quantum Cerenkov effect.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Field effect transistor
  • Femtosecond laser
  • Electronic
  • Interactions
  • Laser damage
  • Graphene
  • Optical
  • Emissions
  • Laser induced periodic surface structures
  • Light
  • Optoelectronics

• Graduation date

  Spring 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3057D73S

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.