Photoresponse of an Electrically Tunable Ambipolar Graphene Infrared Thermocouple

We explore the photoresponse of an ambipolar graphene infrared thermocouple at photon energies close to or below monolayer graphene’s optical phonon energy and electrostatically accessible Fermi energy levels. The ambipolar graphene infrared thermocouple consists of monolayer graphene supported by an infrared absorbing material, controlled by two independent electrostatic gates embedded below the absorber. Using a scanning infrared laser microscope, we characterize these devices as a function of carrier type and carrier density difference controlled at the junction between the two electrostatic gates. On the basis of these measurements, conducted at both mid- and near-infrared wavelengths, the primary detection mechanism can be modeled as a thermoelectric response. By studying the effect of different infrared absorbers, we determine that the optical absorption and thermal conduction of the substrate play the dominant role in the measured photoresponse of our devices. These experiments indicate a path toward hybrid graphene thermal detectors for sensing applications such as thermography and chemical spectroscopy

Asymmetric Growth of Bilayer Graphene on Copper Enclosures Using Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

In this work, we investigated the growth mechanisms of bilayer graphene on the outside surface of Cu enclosures at low pressures. We observed that the asymmetric growth environment of a Cu enclosure can yield a much higher (up to 100%) bilayer coverage on the outside surface as compared to the bilayer growth on a flat Cu foil, where both sides are exposed to the same growth environment. By simultaneously examining the graphene films grown on both the outside and inside surfaces of the Cu enclosure, we find that carbon can diffuse from the inside surface to the outside <i>via</i> exposed copper regions on the inside surface. The kinetics of this process are examined by coupling the asymmetric growth between the two surfaces through a carbon diffusion model. Finally, using these results, we show that the coverage of bilayer graphene can be tuned simply by changing the thickness of the Cu foil, further confirming our model of carbon delivery through the Cu foil

Graphene-Based Thermopile for Thermal Imaging Applications

In this work, we leverage graphene’s unique tunable Seebeck coefficient for the demonstration of a graphene-based thermal imaging system. By integrating graphene based photothermo-electric detectors with micromachined silicon nitride membranes, we are able to achieve room temperature responsivities on the order of ∼7–9 V/W (at λ = 10.6 μm), with a time constant of ∼23 ms. The large responsivities, due to the combination of thermal isolation and broadband infrared absorption from the underlying SiN membrane, have enabled detection as well as stand-off imaging of an incoherent blackbody target (300–500 K). By comparing the fundamental achievable performance of these graphene-based thermopiles with standard thermocouple materials, we extrapolate that graphene’s high carrier mobility can enable improved performances with respect to two main figures of merit for infrared detectors: detectivity (>8 × 10⁸ cm Hz^1/2 W^–1) and noise equivalent temperature difference (<100 mK). Furthermore, even average graphene carrier mobility (<1000 cm² V^–1 s^–1) is still sufficient to detect the emitted thermal radiation from a human target