SPring-8, the large synchrotron radiation facility

The researchers (associate professor Hirokazu Fukidome, et al.) at Research Institute of Electrical Communication at Tohoku University, in collaboration with those at School of Engineering of Tohoku University, the University of Erlangen (Germany), Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, and Hirosaki University, successfully applied a microfabrication technique to the manufacturing of device structures, characterized by well-controlled (suppressed) nanoscale surface steps, on SiC substrates. The achievement translates into the development of a precision method for graphene^*2 growth microscopically controlled in terms of electron state and the distribution of the numbers of stacked layers. Preparation of such substrates has been a challenge to be overcome for device applications of the next-generation electronic material: graphene. The results represent the realization of a technique to manipulate nanoscale electronic properties through the control of the number of graphene layers, which has a huge implication for accelerated commercialization of reliable next-generation electronic/optical devices, i.e. graphene-based devices.

The details of the research were reported in a paper published in Applied Physics Letters (American Institute of Physics, August 6).