Raman Spectroscopy of Lithographically Patterned Graphene Nanoribbons

Abstract

Nanometer-scale graphene objects are attracting much research interest because of newly emerging properties originating from quantum confinement effects. We present Raman spectroscopy studies of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), which are known to have nonzero electronic bandgap. GNRs of width ranging from 15 to 100 nm have been prepared by e-beam lithographic patterning of mechanically exfoliated graphene followed by oxygen plasma etching. Raman spectra of narrow GNRs can be characterized by an upshifted G band and a prominent disorder-related D band originating from scattering at the ribbon edges. The D-to-G band intensity ratio generally increases with decreasing ribbon width. However, its decrease in width of <25 nm, partly attributed to amorphization at the edges, provides a valuable experimental estimate on D mode relaxation length of [removed]