Large-scale fabrication of 2-D nanoporous graphene using a thin anodic aluminum oxide etching mask.

A large-scale nanoporous graphene (NPG) fabrication method via a thin anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) etching mask is presented in this paper. A thin AAO film is successfully transferred onto a hydrophobic graphene surface under no external force. The AAO film is completely stacked on the graphene due to the van der Waals force. The neck width of the NPG can be controlled ranging from 10 nm to 30 nm with different AAO pore widening times. Extension of the NPG structure is demonstrated on a centimeter scale up to 2 cm2. AAO and NPG structures are characterized using optical microscopy (OM), Raman spectroscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). A field effect transistor (FET) is realized by using NPG. Its electrical characteristics turn out to be different from that of pristine graphene, which is due to the periodic nanostructures. The proposed fabrication method could be adapted to a future graphene-based nano device.