Tuning the electrical and optical properties of graphene by ozone treatment for patterning monolithic transparent electrodes.

Tunable electrical and optical properties of graphene are vital to promote its use as film electrodes in a variety of devices. We developed an etching-free ozone treatment method to continuously tune the electrical resistance and optical transmittance of graphene films by simply varying the time and temperature of graphene exposure to ozone. Initially, ozone exposure dramatically decreases the electrical resistance of graphene films by p-doping, but this is followed by increases in the resistance and optical transmittance as a result of surface oxidation. The rate of resistance increase can be significantly increased by raising the treatment temperature. The ozone-oxidized graphene is not removed but is gradually transformed to graphene oxide (GO). On the basis of such effects of ozone treatment, we demonstrate a well-defined graphene pattern by using ozone photolithography, in which the ozone-treated graphene electrodes are monolithic but separated by insulating GO regions. Such a monolithic graphene pattern shows low optical contrast, a clean and more hydrophilic surface, indicating the promising use of ozone treatment to achieve high-performance graphene-based optoelectronic devices.