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Graphene-silicon (GS) Schottky junctions have been demonstrated as an efficient architecture for photodetection. However, the response speed of such devices for free space light detection has so far been limited to 10's-100's of kHz for wavelength $\lambda >$ 500nm. Here, we demonstrate graphene-silicon Schottky junction photodetectors fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator substrate (SOI) with response speeds approaching 1GHz, attributed to the reduction of the photo-active silicon layer thickness to 10$\mu$m and with it a suppression of speed-limiting diffusion currents. Graphene-silicon-on-insulator photodetectors (GSOI-PDs) exhibit a negligible influence of wavelength on response speed and only a modest compromise in responsivities compared to GS junctions fabricated on bulk silicon. Noise-equivalent-power (NEP) and specific detectivity (D$^*$) of GSOI photodetectors are 14.5pW and 7.83$\times10^{\rm{10}}$ cm Hz$^{\rm{1/2}}$W$^{\rm{-1}}$, respectively, in ambient conditions. We further demonstrate that combining GSOI-PDs with micro-optical elements formed by modifying the surface topography enables engineering of the spectral and angular response.

Graphene-Silicon Schottky diode photodetectors possess beneficial properties such as high responsivities and detectivities, broad spectral wavelength operation and high operating speeds. Various routes and architectures have been employed in the past to fabricate devices. Devices are commonly based on the removal of the silicon-oxide layer on the surface of silicon by wet-etching before deposition of graphene on top of silicon to form the graphene-silicon Schottky junction. In this work, we systematically investigate the influence of the interfacial oxide layer, the fabrication technique employed and the silicon substrate on the light detection capabilities of graphene-silicon Schottky diode photodetectors. The properties of devices are investigated over a broad wavelength range from near-UV to short-/mid-infrared radiation, radiation intensities covering over five orders of magnitude as well as the suitability of devices for high speed operation. Results show that the interfacial layer, depending on the required application, is in fact beneficial to enhance the photodetection properties of such devices. Further, we demonstrate the influence of the silicon substrate on the spectral response and operating speed. Fabricated devices operate over a broad spectral wavelength range from the near-UV to the short-/mid-infrared (thermal) wavelength regime, exhibit high photovoltage responses approaching 10$^6$ V/W and short rise- and fall-times of tens of nanoseconds.

Graphene is hailed as an ideal material for spintronics due to weak intrinsic spin-orbit interaction that facilitates lateral spin transport and tunability of its electronic properties, including a possibility to induce magnetism in graphene. Another promising application of graphene is related to its use as a spacer separating ferromagnetic metals (FMs) in vertical magnetoresistive devices, the most prominent class of spintronic devices widely used as magnetic sensors. In particular, few-layer graphene was predicted to act as a perfect spin filter. Here we show that the role of graphene in such devices (at least in the absence of epitaxial alignment between graphene and the FMs) is different and determined by proximity-induced spin splitting and charge transfer with adjacent ferromagnetic metals, making graphene a weak FM electrode rather than a spin filter. To this end, we report observations of magnetoresistance (MR) in vertical Co-graphene-NiFe junctions with 1 to 4 graphene layers separating the ferromagnets, and demonstrate that the dependence of the MR sign on the number of layers and its inversion at relatively small bias voltages is consistent with spin transport between weakly doped and differently spin-polarized layers of graphene. The proposed interpretation is supported by the observation of an MR sign reversal in biased Co-graphene-hBN-NiFe devices and by comprehensive structural characterization. Our results suggest a new architecture for vertical devices with electrically controlled MR., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Supplementary Information (6 Supplementary Notes, 11 supplementary figures)

Graphene is impermeable to all gases and liquids, and even such a small atom as hydrogen is not expected to penetrate through graphene's dense electronic cloud within billions of years. Here we show that monolayers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are unexpectedly permeable to thermal protons, hydrogen ions under ambient conditions. As a reference, no proton transport could be detected for a monolayer of molybdenum disulfide, bilayer graphene or multilayer hBN. At room temperature, monolayer hBN exhibits the highest proton conductivity with a low activation energy of about 0.3 eV but graphene becomes a better conductor at elevated temperatures such that its resistivity to proton flow is estimated to fall below 10^-3 Ohm per cm2 above 250 C. The proton barriers can be further reduced by decorating monolayers with catalytic nanoparticles. These atomically thin proton conductors could be of interest for many hydrogen-based technologies., Comment: submitted, pre-edited version

We describe the identification of single- and few- layer boron nitride. Its optical contrast is much smaller than that of graphene but even monolayers are discernable by optimizing viewing conditions. Raman spectroscopy can be used to confirm BN monolayers. They exhibit an upshift in the fundamental Raman mode by up to 4 cm-1. The number of layers in thicker crystals can be counted by exploiting an integer-step increase in the Raman intensity and optical contrast.

It is widely assumed that the dominant source of scattering in graphene is charged impurities in a substrate. We have tested this conjecture by studying graphene placed on various substrates and in high-k media. Unexpectedly, we have found no significant changes in carrier mobility either for different substrates or by using glycerol, ethanol and water as a top dielectric layer. This suggests that Coulomb impurities are not the scattering mechanism that limits the mean free path currently attainable for graphene on a substrate., Comment: further experiments proving the point are reported in the final version

The properties of suspended graphene are currently attracting enormous interest, but the small size of available samples and the difficulties in making them severely restrict the number of experimental techniques that can be used to study the optical, mechanical, electronic, thermal and other characteristics of this one-atom-thick material. Here we describe a new and highly-reliable approach for making graphene membranes of a macroscopic size (currently up to 100 microns in diameter) and their characterization by transmission electron microscopy. In particular, we have found that long graphene beams supported by one side only do not scroll or fold, in striking contrast to the current perception of graphene as a supple thin fabric, but demonstrate sufficient stiffness to support extremely large loads, millions of times exceeding their own weight, in agreement with the presented theory. Our work opens many avenues for studying suspended graphene and using it in various micromechanical systems and electron microscopy., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for Nano Letters. v4 includes corrections to theory, updated references, corrected typos

Graphene is only one atom thick, optically transparent, chemically inert and an excellent conductor. These properties seem to make this material an excellent candidate for applications in various photonic devices that require conducting but transparent thin films. In this letter we demonstrate liquid crystal devices with electrodes made of graphene which show excellent performance with a high contrast ratio. We also discuss the advantages of graphene compared to conventionally-used metal oxides in terms of low resistivity, high transparency and chemical stability.

Microfabrication of graphene devices used in many experimental studies currently relies on the fact that graphene crystallites can be visualized using optical microscopy if prepared on top of silicon wafers with a certain thickness of silicon dioxide. We study graphene's visibility and show that it depends strongly on both thickness of silicon dioxide and light wavelength. We have found that by using monochromatic illumination, graphene can be isolated for any silicon dioxide thickness, albeit 300 nm (the current standard) and, especially, approx. 100 nm are most suitable for its visual detection. By using a Fresnel-law-based model, we quantitatively describe the experimental data without any fitting parameters., Comment: Since v1: minor changes to text and figures to improve clarity; references added. Submitted to Applied Physics Letters, 30-Apr-07. 3 pages, 3 figures

Graphene - a single atomic layer of graphite - is a recently-found two-dimensional form of carbon, which exhibits high crystal quality and ballistic electron transport at room temperature. Soft magnetic NiFe electrodes have been used to inject polarized spins into graphene and a 10% change in resistance has been observed as the electrodes switch from the parallel to the antiparallel state. This coupled with the fact that a field effect electrode can modulate the conductivity of these graphene films makes them exciting potential candidates for spin electronic devices., Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures

We have produced magnetic patterns suitable for trapping and manipulating neutral atoms on a $1 \mu$m length scale. The required patterns are made in Co/Pt thin films on a silicon substrate, using the heat from a focussed laser beam to induce controlled domain reversal. In this way we draw lines and "paint" shaped areas of reversed magnetization with sub-micron resolution. These structures produce magnetic microtraps above the surface that are suitable for holding rubidium atoms with trap frequencies as high as ~1 MHz., Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures

Movements of individual domain walls in a ferromagnetic garnet were studied with angstrom resolution. The measurements reveal that domain walls can be locked between adjacent crystallographic planes and propagate by distinct steps matching the lattice periodicity. Domain walls are found to be weakly mobile within valleys of the atomic washboard but become unexpectedly flexible on Peierls ridges, where they can be kept in a bi-stable state by ac magnetic field. We describe the latter observation in terms of a single magnetic kink propagating along a domain wall.