Visualizing Electrical
Breakdown and ON/OFF States
in Electrically Switchable Suspended Graphene Break Junctions
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Abstract
Narrow gaps are formed in suspended single- to few-layer
graphene
devices using a pulsed electrical breakdown technique. The conductance
of the resulting devices can be programmed by the application of voltage
pulses, with voltages of 2.5 to ∼4.5 V, corresponding to an
ON pulse, and ∼8 V, corresponding to an OFF pulse. Electron
microscope imaging of the devices shows that the graphene sheets typically
remain suspended and that the device conductance tends to zero when
the observed gap is large. The switching rate is strongly temperature
dependent, which rules out a purely electromechanical switching mechanism.
This observed switching in suspended graphene devices strongly suggests
a switching mechanism via atomic movement and/or chemical rearrangement
and underscores the potential of all-carbon devices for integration
with graphene electronics