Terahertz imaging of graphene could promote industrialization

A collaborative team of Graphene Flagship partners from DTU, Denmark, IIT, Italy, Aalto University, Finland, AIXTRON, UK, imec, Belgium, Graphenea, Spain, Warsaw University, Poland, and Thales R&T, France, as well as collaborators in China, Korea and the US, has come together to develop and mature terahertz spectroscopy techniques, that can penetrate graphene films and enable the creation of detailed maps of their electrical quality, without damaging or contaminating the material. The result of this collaborating is a novel measurement tool for graphene characterization.

Graphene is often ‘sandwiched’ between many different layers and materials to be used in electronic and photonic devices, which complicates the process of quality assessment. Terahertz spectroscopy can help by imaging the encapsulated materials and revealing the quality of the graphene underneath, exposing imperfections at critical points in the fabrication process. It is a fast, non-destructive technology that probes the electrical properties of graphene and layered materials, with no need for direct contact.