Controlled synthesis of graphene nanoribbons for field effect transistors

In this work, a template CVD method to produce graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) was developed with Cu nanoribbons as catalyst. Appropriate temperature, growth time and cooling rate were investigated and displayed the great importance for obtaining GNRs. The morphology, thickness and crystalline quality of the GNRs were characterized by the SEM, AFM, TEM (HRTEM and TEM diffraction), and Raman spectroscopy respectively, which indicated the GNRs had much narrower width, less layer numbers, smooth edges and higher crystalline compared to previous ones. Moreover, the electrical properties of the GNRs were measured and the mobilities reach 80–300 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. This research provides a new type of GNRs experimentally, which is of great importance for the graphene applications. - Graphical abstract: Graphene nanoribbons obtained via CVD method show high quality, small width and smooth edges and were used to fabricated FETs with extracted mobilities of 80–300 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. Highlights: • Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) were obtained via a template CVD method. • The GNRs have narrower width, less layer numbers and smooth edges. • The mobilities of the GNRs reach 80–300 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹