Defect Healing in Graphene via Rapid Thermal Annealing with Polymeric "Nanobandage"

As defect introduction in graphene from synthesis and characterization processes is unavoidable, it is crucial to establish a new defect-healing method for graphene in post-silicon device fabrication. Current healing methods, such as conventional thermal annealing, are either time-consuming, highly specialized, or tedious. To this end, we have developed a new time- and energy-efficient healing approach for graphene, utilizing polymer-assisted rapid thermal annealing (RTA). In this method, a nitrogen-rich, polymeric "nanobandage" is coated directly onto graphene and processed via RTA at 800 ℃ for 15 seconds, successfully doping nitrogen into graphene. To understand its mechanism at an atomic level, we further investigate the nature of the defects and the location of the inserted nitrogen using scanning tunneling microscopy. This poster elaborates on how the nitrogen dopants bond with the graphene, augmented by in-situ mass spectroscopy to monitor the fragmentation of the nanobandage polymer during RTA.