Graphene – a priority research area at Uppsala University

Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon material, in essence a gigantic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, the existence of which was experimentally verified only a few years ago. The subsequent explosion of scientific activity is unprecedented since the discovery of the high temperature superconductors in the late eighties; during the period between 2005 and 2007 more than 20 publications addressing graphene appeared in Science or in journals by Nature Publishing Group, and sevreal more in other high-prestige journals. The excitement around this material is in part due to the predicted quantum electrodynamical properties, where the electrons can be described as so-called mass-less Dirac Fermions. However, the potential for applications within electronics and photonics are maybe more important.

Research on graphene requires a wide range of expertise including chemical synthesis, electron microscopy, surface physics and theoretical modelling. Since 2007, researchers from Physics, Chemistry and Engineering science at Uppsala university are active in the graphene field. The initiative has been awarded University support 2008-2010 within the Quality and Renewal program.

Coordinator: Professor Olle Eriksson

Publications:

• Defect formation in graphene nano-sheets by acid treatment:  an X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory study. V.A.Colman, R.Knut, O.Karis, H.Grennberg, U.Jansson, R.Quinlan, B.C.Holloway, B.Sanyal and O.Eriksson  J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 062001  Link
• Dynamical core-hole screening in the x-ray absorption spectra of hydrogenated carbon nanotubes and graphene. O. Wessely, M. I. Katsnelson,A. Nilsson, A. Nikitin, H. Ogasawara, M. Odelius, B. Sanyal, and O. Eriksson PHYSICAL REVIEW B 76, 161402(R), 2007