The conductivity of Graphene has made it a target for many researchers seeking to exploit it to create molecular scale devices and now a research team jointly led by University of Warwick and EMPA have found a way past a frustrating catch 22 issue of stability and reproducibility that meant that graphene based junctions were either mechanically stable or electrically stable but not both at the same time.
Graphene and graphene like molecules are attractive choice as an electronic component in molecular devices but up till now it has proven very challenging to use them in large scale production of molecular devices that will work and be robust at room temperatures. In a joint effort research teams from the University of Warwick, EMPA and Lancaster and Bern Universities have reached both electrical and mechanical stability in graphene based junctions million times smaller than diameter of human hair. They have today published their findings in a paper entitled "Robust graphene-based molecular devices" in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
To read more, click here.