Electrical Engineering

Graphene, a newly discovered form of carbon consisting of a single plane of atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, exhibits many exotic properties. The research group of Electrical Engineering Professor Alexander A. Balandin has recently conducted the very first experimental investigation of the thermal conductivity of graphene suspended across trench in a silicon wafer (see the figure, which shows the scanning electron microscopy image of the suspended single atomic layer graphene). The UCR researchers discovered that graphene manifests extremely high thermal conductivity exceeding that of carbon nanotubes or diamond. The results were reported in the recent issue of Nano Letters. The measurements were performed using a unique non-contact optical technique developed in Balandin’s Nano-Device Laboratory . The suspended graphene flakes for this research were prepared in the group of UCR Physics Assistant Professor Jeanie Lau. The superior heat conduction property of graphene is beneficial for the proposed electronic applications of this material and extends its use to thermal management of nanoscale circuits. The discovery of graphene’s extremely high thermal conductivity was highlighted by media world-wide: see, for example, the features in Physics World “Graphene Continues to Amaze”, in PhysOrg.com “Graphene Takes the Heat” and in NanoWerk “Cool graphene for thermal management in nanoelectronics”.