Investigating large area graphene and other 2D materials for real world applications

由于石墨烯优异的电学、光学和机械性能（在移动性、机制和均匀吸收方面都是一流的），这种材料被誉为未来在柔性电子行业等领域的颠覆性技术，柔性电子行业本身就是一个数十亿美元的市场，预计将大幅增长。科学研究人员对石墨烯以外的其他二维材料（如二硫化钼和氮化硼）的兴趣也在扩大，但目前还没有已知的制造路线来实现商业化。为了使这些原子厚度的材料从研究实验室出现并发展到工厂车间，必须克服许多测量方面的挑战。大规模生产的石墨烯和二维材料的特性，在开发制造触摸面板和显示器等设备的路线之前，必须首先了解它们的特性，这些设备将使该领域的应用成为可能。此外，需要一套互补的表征技术来充分理解和评估不同结构和化学性质的变化，这有助于柔性石墨烯电子产品的最终电学、光学、热学和机械性能。这需要彻底的检查，分布的分类和标准化。这些2D材料需要采用凡尔赛先进材料和标准项目（VAMAS）引入的标准化技术和协议，以使其适合现实世界的应用。在国家物理实验室（NPL）的国家石墨烯计量中心（NGMC），并与萨里大学先进技术研究所（ATI）的石墨烯中心合作，这些计量障碍将通过原型应用对2D材料本身进行研究。一系列的分析技术将被采用，如尖端增强和共聚焦拉曼光谱，扫描探针显微镜（SPM），扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和x射线光电子能谱（XPS）。

Due to the excellent electrical, optical and mechanical properties of graphene, (best in class for mobility, mechanisms and uniform absorption) this material has been hailed as a future disruptive technology in areas such as the flexible electronics industry, which itself is a multi-billion dollar market that is predicted to drastically increase. The level of interest of scientific researchers in other 2D materials beyond graphene, such as molybdenum disulphide and boron nitride, is also expanding but there are no known manufacturing routes to achieve the commercialisation as of yet.For these atomically-thick materials to emerge from the research laboratory and progress to the factory floor, there are many measurement challenges that must be overcome. The characterisation of graphene and 2D materials, produced on a large-scale, must first be understood before developing routes to fabricate devices such as touch panels and displays that will enable application in this area. Furthermore, an ensemble of complementary characterisation techniques are required to fully understand and evaluate the variations in different structural and chemical properties, which contribute to the final electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties of flexible graphene electronics. This needs thorough examination, classification of distributions and standardisation. Standardisation techniques and protocols introduced by Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) need to be adopted for these 2D materials to make them fit for real world applications.Working at the National Graphene Metrology Centre (NGMC) at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and in partnership with the Graphene Centre at Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), University of Surrey, these metrology barriers will be investigated for the 2D materials themselves, through to prototype applications. A range of analytical techniques will be employed, such as tip-enhanced and confocal Raman spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy (SPM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).