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Artificial retina implantation provides an effective and feasible attempt for vision recovery in addition to retinal transplantation. The most advanced artificial retinas ever developed based on silicon technology are rigid and thus less compatible with the biosystem. Here we demonstrate flexible photoresponsive ring oscillators (PROs) based on the 2D semiconductor MoS

Two-dimensional van der Waals magnetic materials have demonstrated great potential for new-generation high-performance and versatile spintronic devices. Among them, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) based on A-type antiferromagnets, such as CrI3, possess record-high tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) because of the spin filter effect of each insulating unit ferromagnetic layer. However, the relatively low working temperature and the instability of the chromium halides hinder applications of this system. Using a different technical scheme, we fabricated the MTJs based on an air-stable A-type antiferromagnet, CrSBr, and observed a giant TMR of up to 47000% at 5 K. Meanwhile, because of a relatively high Néel temperature of CrSBr, a sizable TMR of about 50% was observed at 130 K, which makes a big step towards spintronic devices at room temperature. Our results reveal the potential of realizing magnetic information storage in CrSBr-based spin-filter MTJs.

Atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a promising semiconductor material for integrated flexible electronics due to its excellent mechanical, optical and electronic properties. However, the fabrication of large-scale MoS2-based flexible integrated circuits with high device density and performance remains a challenge. Here, we report the fabrication of transparent MoS2-based transistors and logic circuits on flexible substrates using four-inch wafer-scale MoS2 monolayers. Our approach uses a modified chemical vapour deposition process to grow wafer-scale monolayers with large grain sizes and gold/titanium/gold electrodes to create a contact resistance as low as 2.9 kΩ μm−1. The field-effect transistors are fabricated with a high device density (1,518 transistors per cm2) and yield (97%), and exhibit high on/off ratios (1010), current densities (~35 μA μm−1), mobilities (~55 cm2 V−1 s−1) and flexibility. We also use the approach to create various flexible integrated logic circuits: inverters, NOR gates, NAND gates, AND gates, static random access memories and five-stage ring oscillators. Wafer-scale monolayers of MoS2 can be used to create flexible transistors and circuits that exhibit on/off ratios of 1010, current densities of ~35 μA μm−1 and mobilities of ~55 cm2 V−1 s−1.

Monolayer MoS

High performance of the generation, stabilization and manipulation of magnetic skyrmions prompts the application of topological multilayers in spintronic devices. Skyrmions in synthetic antiferromagnets (SAF) have been considered as a promising alternative to overcome the limitations of ferromagnetic skyrmions, such as the skyrmion Hall effect and stray magnetic field. Here, by using the Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, the interconversion between the single domain, labyrinth domain and skyrmion state can be observed by the combined manipulation of electric current and magnetic field in a Hall balance (a SAF with the core structure of [Co/Pt]4/NiO/[Co/Pt]4 showing perpendicular magnetic anisotropy). Furthermore, high-density room temperature skyrmions can be stabilized at zero field while the external stimulus is removed and the skyrmion density is tunable. The generation and manipulation method of skyrmions in Hall balance in this study opens up a promising way to engineer SAF-skyrmion-based memory devices.

Understanding the transport of spin current in antiferromagnetic materials is indispensable to develop antiferromagnetic spintronic devices. In this work, we study the spin current transmission through an antiferromagnetic IrMn insertion layer in a W/IrMn($t$)/CoFeB structure by measuring the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) and spin-orbit torque (SOT). The temperature dependences of SMR and SOT effective fields indicate that the spin current transmission reaches its maximum at the N\'eel temperature of IrMn. The enhancement is ascribed to the increase in the interfacial spin mixing conductance, which is related to the maximum magnetic susceptibility of the IrMn layer at the N\'eel temperature. The spin transmission decreases monotonically as a function of the IrMn thickness, which is different from the case with an insulating antiferromagnetic NiO insertion layer in previous works. In addition, we found that the spin transmission through an antiferromagnetic IrMn layer is independent of the exchange bias orientation. Our results suggest that the spin current transmission through the IrMn layer (from W layer to CoFeB layer) is mainly mediated by spin-polarized electrons rather than magnons, which is likely due to the absence of the effective excitation of magnons in the IrMn layer by the spin-polarized current.

Characterization of spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) system is of great importance for fundamental studies and technological applications in spintronic devices. Here, we report a spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) based spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST FMR) study of SOT efficiency in perpendicularly magnetized $\mathrm{W}$/${\mathrm{Co}}_{40}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{40}{\mathrm{B}}_{20}$/$\mathrm{Mg}\mathrm{O}$ structures. A full analysis of the ST FMR spectrum is developed for the PMA sample. A typical ST FMR spectrum of the PMA system shows two resonance modes, i.e., in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization precession modes. By performing modulation of the damping measurement for the in-plane mode, the dampinglike torque efficiency is determined to be \ensuremath{-}0.38, which is consistent with the reference value obtained in samples with in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The dampinglike torque efficiency of \ensuremath{-}0.31 is also obtained from the out-of-plane resonance mode, in which the significant contribution of the spin-pumping-induced inverse spin Hall effect is carefully considered. The obtained values of dampinglike torque efficiency by different means are consistent with each other. The present work provides useful insights to determine the dampinglike torque efficiency of the PMA sample via ST FMR measurements.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials and van der Waals heterostructures have attracted tremendous attention because of their appealing electronic, mechanical, and optoelectronic properties, which offer the possibility to extend the range of functionalities for diverse potential applications. Here, we fabricate a novel multiterminal device with dual-gate based on 2D material van der Waals heterostructures. Such a multiterminal device exhibited excellent nonvolatile multilevel resistance switching performance controlled by the source-drain voltage and back-gate voltage. Based on these features, heterosynaptic plasticity, in which the synaptic weight can be tuned by another modulatory interneuron, has been mimicked. A tunable analogue weight update (both on/off ratio and update nonlinearity) of synapse with high speed (50 ns) and low energy (∼7.3 fJ) programming has been achieved. These results demonstrate the great potential of the artificial synapse based on van der Waals heterostructures for neuromorphic computing.

Manipulation of magnetization by electric-current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) is of great importance for spintronic applications because of its merits in energy-efficient and high-speed operation. An ideal material for SOT applications should possess high charge-spin conversion efficiency and high electrical conductivity. Recently, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) emerge as intriguing platforms for SOT study because of their controllability in spin-orbit coupling, conductivity, and energy band topology. Although TMDs show great potentials in SOT applications, the present study is restricted to the mechanically exfoliated samples with small sizes and relatively low conductivities. Here, a manufacturable recipe is developed to fabricate large-area thin films of PtTe

Hexaferrites with noncollinear conical magnetic structures are among the most interesting and promising single-phase multiferroics. One puzzle remaining unsolved is why the spin-induced electric polarization can be either reversible or nonreversible by applying magnetic fields. We have unraveled a solution to this puzzle by a systematic study in the multiferroic hexaferrite ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{0.3}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{1.7}{\mathrm{Co}}_{2}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{11}{\mathrm{AlO}}_{22}$ where the electric polarization is reversible at low temperatures but nonreversible at high temperatures. Neutron diffraction results reveal that the rotation of spin cones with applied $ab$-plane magnetic field takes distinct paths at 150 and 305 K: in-plane and out-of-plane rotation, respectively. A theoretical analysis based on the spin current model confirms that the reversal of electric polarization is caused by the in-plane rotation. Our study clarifies the mechanism underlying the reversibility of spin-induced electric polarization in multiferroic hexaferrites.

Spin-orbit torque flips the perpendicular magnetic moment of a 2D van der Waals magnet., The recent discovery of ferromagnetism in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials holds promises for spintronic devices with exceptional properties. However, to use 2D vdW magnets for building spintronic nanodevices such as magnetic memories, key challenges remain in terms of effectively switching the magnetization from one state to the other electrically. Here, we devise a bilayer structure of Fe3GeTe2/Pt, in which the magnetization of few-layered Fe3GeTe2 can be effectively switched by the spin-orbit torques (SOTs) originated from the current flowing in the Pt layer. The effective magnetic fields corresponding to the SOTs are further quantitatively characterized using harmonic measurements. Our demonstration of the SOT-driven magnetization switching in a 2D vdW magnet could pave the way for implementing low-dimensional materials in the next-generation spintronic applications.

Magnetic two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdWs) materials are receiving increased attention due to their exceptional properties and potential applications in spintronic devices. Because exchange bias and spin–orbit torque (SOT)-driven magnetization switching are basic ingredients for spintronic devices, it is of pivotal importance to demonstrate these effects in the 2D vdWs material-based magnetic heterostructures. In this work, we employ a vacuum exfoliation approach to fabricate Fe3GeTe2 (FGT)/Ir22Mn78 (IrMn) and FGT/Pt bilayers, which have high-quality interfaces. An out-of-plane exchange bias of up to 895 Oe is obtained in the former bilayer, which is larger than that of the previously studied bilayers. In the latter bilayer, the SOT switching of the perpendicularly magnetized FGT is realized, which exhibits higher SOT-driven switching performance compared to the previously studied FGT/Pt bilayer devices with interfacial oxidation. The minimum of SOT efficiency is further determined to be 0.18 ± 0.04, comparable to the previously reported values for the Pt/Co and Pt/CoFeB bilayers. This work highlights the importance of the high-quality interface for the exchange bias and SOT effect and may pave the way for implementing 2D vdWs in spintronic devices.

The binary alloy/ferromagnetic metal heterostructure has drawn extensive attention in the research field of spin–orbit torque (SOT) due to the potential enhancement of SOT efficiency via composition engineering. In this work, the magnetic properties and SOT efficiency in the Pt100 – x Ni x /Ni78Fe22 bilayers were investigated via the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) technique. The effective magnetic anisotropy field and effective damping constant extracted by analyzing the ST-FMR spectra show a weak dependence on the Ni concentration. The effective spin-mixing conductance of 8.40 × 1014 Ω−1 ⋅ m−2 and the interfacial spin transparency T in of 0.59 were obtained for the sample of Pt70Ni30/NiFe bilayer. More interestingly, the SOT efficiency that is carefully extracted from the angular dependence of ST-FMR spectra shows a nonmonotonic dependence on the Ni concentration, which reaches the maximum at x = 18. The enhancement of the SOT efficiency by alloying the Ni with Pt shows potential in lowering the critical switching current. Moreover, alloying relatively cheaper Ni with Pt may promote to reduce the cost of SOT devices.

Magnetic skyrmions are intensively explored for potential applications in ultralow-energy data storage and computing. To create practical skyrmionic memory devices, it is necessary to electrically create and manipulate these topologically protected information carriers in thin films, thus realizing both writing and addressing functions. Although room-temperature skyrmions have been previously observed, fully electrically controllable skyrmionic memory devices, integrating both of these functions, have not been developed to date. Here, we demonstrate a room-temperature skyrmion shift memory device, where individual skyrmions are controllably generated and shifted using current-induced spin-orbit torques. Particularly, it is shown that one can select the device operation mode in between (i) writing new single skyrmions or (ii) shifting existing skyrmions by controlling the magnitude and duration of current pulses. Thus, we electrically realize both writing and addressing of a stream of skyrmions in the device. This prototype demonstration brings skyrmions closer to real-world computing applications.

In this work, we present an ingenious method to fabricate self-aligned nanoscale Hall devices using chemically synthesized nanowires as both etching and deposition masks. This versatile method can be extensively used to make nanoribbons out of arbitrary thin films without the need for extremely high alignment accuracy to define the metal contacts. The fabricated nanoribbon width scales with the mask nanowire width (diameter), and it can be easily reduced down to tens of nanometers. The self-aligned metal contacts from the sidewall extend to the top surface of the nanoribbon, and the overlap can be controlled by tuning the deposition recipe. To demonstrate the feasibility, we have fabricated Ta/CoFeB/MgO nanoribbons sputtered on a SiO2/Si substrate with different metal contacts, using synthesized SnO2 nanowires as masks. Anomalous Hall effect measurements have been carried out on the fabricated nanoscale Hall device in order to study the current-induced magnetization switching in the nanoscale heavy metal/ferromagnet heterostructure, which has shown distinct switching behaviors from micron-scale devices. The developed method provides a useful fabrication platform to probe the charge and spin transport in the nanoscale regime.

The interfacial spin transmission and spin–orbit torques (SOTs) in as-grown and annealed W/Co2FeAl(CFA)/MgO multilayers are studied by the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) technique. The effective spin-mixing conductance of 4.40 × 10 14 Ω − 1 m − 2 and the interfacial spin transparency Tin of 0.47 are obtained for the as-grown samples, which are comparable to those of the widely employed W/CoFeB bilayer. The annealing influence on the W/CFA/MgO multilayer is subsequently studied. The damping-like torque efficiency (ξDL) and field-like torque efficiency (ξFL) are extracted for different annealing temperatures via modulation of damping measurements and the angular dependence of ST-FMR spectra. Importantly, the ξDL value is fairly large (0.3 –0.5) and does not degrade even when the annealing temperature is increased up to 420 °C. Our results indicate that the studied W/CFA/MgO multilayers could be promising candidate materials for designing and developing SOT-driven spintronic devices.

Here, the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance signal and the spin Hall magnetoresistance induced by the spin Hall effect of W/Cu/CoFeB heterostructures with different Cu layer thicknesses ( t Cu) have been systemically studied. The effective spin mixing conductance g eff ↑ ↓, the interfacial spin transparency T, and the real spin–orbit torque efficiency ( J s J c ) real show a significant increase compared to the W/CoFeB heterostructure. ( J s J c ) real reaches its maximum of ∼0.54, increased up to ∼50% at the optimized t Cu ∼ 0.52 nm according to our theoretical prediction. More importantly, the intrinsic spin Hall angle of W, θ SH int ∼ 0.79 ± 0.20, has also been obtained after the correction of the inverse spin Hall effect and T. This suggests that the Cu insertion improves the interface quality and, therefore, assists the spin transport in the heterostructures, which potentially improves the performance of next-generation spintronic devices.

The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), current-induced spin–orbit torques (SOTs), and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in the as-grown W or Ta/Ir22Mn78(IrMn)/CoFeB/MgO stacks with varying IrMn layer thicknesses were investigated. The in-plane magnetized W/CoFeB/MgO sample becomes perpendicularly magnetized after inserting the IrMn layer without the requirement of the annealing process. The effective magnetization fields 4πMeff show a nonmonotonic dependence on the IrMn layer thickness, which reaches the maximum in magnitude at a thickness of tIrMn = 0.75 nm. The SOT effective fields corresponding to damping-like and field-like torques decrease with the insertion layer thickness. Moreover, the variation of the IrMn layer thickness leads to the change of the DMI in magnitude and sign change from positive (favoring right-handed chirality) to negative (favoring left-handed chirality). The realization of changing the PMA, SOTs, and DMI by inserting the IrMn layer provides more flexibility in the design of spintronic devices.

Manipulation of magnetization by electric-current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) is of great importance for spintronic applications because of its merits in energy-efficient and high-speed operation. An ideal material for SOT applications should possess high charge-spin conversion efficiency and high electrical conductivity. Recently, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) emerge as intriguing platforms for SOT study because of their controllability in spin-orbit coupling, conductivity, and energy band topology. Although TMDs show great potentials in SOT applications, the present study is restricted to the mechanically exfoliated samples with small sizes and relatively low conductivities. Here, a manufacturable recipe is developed to fabricate large-area thin films of PtTe2 , a type-II Dirac semimetal, to study their capability of generating SOT. Large SOT efficiency together with high conductivity results in a giant spin Hall conductivity of PtTe2 thin films, which is the largest value among the presently reported TMDs. It is further demonstrated that the SOT from PtTe2 layer can switch a perpendicularly magnetized CoTb layer efficiently. This work paves the way for employing PtTe2 -like TMDs for wafer-scale spintronic device applications.

Studying resonance modes in exchange-coupled ferromagnetic bilayers is typically accomplished by a magnetic-field-excited ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) technique, in which case it is usually difficult to excite the optical mode, because the out-of-phase resonance cannot efficiently couple to a uniform excitatory magnetic field. This work shows that spin-torque FMR (ST-FMR) can be used to efficiently excite the optical resonance mode, because the current-induced torque naturally does not act uniformly on the two ferromagnetic layers. The results indicate that ST-FMR is an effective probe of interlayer exchange coupling in such systems, to the benefit of research on spintronic devices.

The rich interaction phenomena at antiferromagnet (AFM)/ferromagnet (FM) interfaces are key ingredients in AFM spintronics, where many underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we report on a correlation observed between the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) ${D}_{\mathrm{S}}$ and effective spin-mixing conductance ${g}_{\mathrm{eff}}^{\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}}$ at the IrMn/CoFeB interface. Both ${D}_{\mathrm{S}}$ and ${g}_{\mathrm{eff}}^{\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}}$ are quantitatively determined with Brillouin light-scattering measurements, and increase with IrMn thickness in the range of $2.5\ensuremath{\sim}7.5$ nm. Such correlation likely originates from the AFM-states-mediated spin-flip transitions in the FM, which promote both the interfacial DMI and spin-pumping effect. Our findings provide deeper insight into the AFM-FM interfacial coupling for future spintronic design.

The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) at the heavy metal (HM) and ferromagnetic metal (FM) interface has been recognized as a key ingredient in spintronic applications. Here we investigate the chemical trend of DMI on the 5d band filling (5d^{3}-5d^{10}) of the HM element in HM/FM (FM=CoFeB,Co)/MgO multilayer thin films. DMI is quantitatively evaluated by measuring asymmetric spin wave dispersion using Brillouin light scattering. Sign reversal and 20 times modification of the DMI coefficient D have been measured as the 5d HM element is varied. The chemical trend can be qualitatively understood by considering the 5d and 3d bands alignment at the HM/FM interface and the subsequent orbital hybridization around the Fermi level. Furthermore, a correlation is observed between DMI and effective spin mixing conductance at the HM/FM interfaces. Our results provide new insights into the interfacial DMI for designing future spintronic devices.

Magnetic skyrmions as swirling spin textures with a nontrivial topology have potential applications as magnetic memory and storage devices. Since the initial discovery of skyrmions in non-centrosymmetric B20 materials, the recent effort has focused on exploring room-temperature skyrmions in heavy metal and ferromagnetic heterostructures, a material platform compatible with existing spintronic manufacturing technology. Here, we report the surprising observation that a room-temperature skyrmion phase can be stabilized in an entirely different class of systems based on antiferromagnetic (AFM) metal and ferromagnetic (FM) metal IrMn/CoFeB heterostructures. There are a number of distinct advantages of exploring skyrmions in such heterostructures including zero-field stabilization, tunable antiferromagnetic order, and sizable spin-orbit torque (SOT) for energy-efficient current manipulation. Through direct spatial imaging of individual skyrmions, quantitative evaluation of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and demonstration of current-driven skyrmion motion, our findings firmly establish the AFM/FM heterostructures as a promising material platform for exploring skyrmion physics and device applications.

Magnetic skyrmions are intensively explored for potential applications in ultralow-energy data storage and computing. To create practical skyrmionic memory devices, it is necessary to electrically create and manipulate these topologically-protected information carriers in thin films, thus realizing both writing and addressing functions. Although room-temperature skyrmions have been previously observed, fully electrically controllable skyrmionic memory devices, integrating both of these functions, have not been developed to date. In this talk, I will talk about our recent demonstration of a room-temperature skyrmion shift memory device, where individual skyrmions are controllably generated and shifted using current-induced spin-orbit torques. Particularly, it is shown that one can select the device operation mode in between: (i) writing new single skyrmions, or (ii) shifting existing skyrmions, by controlling the magnitude and duration of current pulses. Thus, we electrically realize both writing and addressing of a stream of skyrmions in the device. This prototype demonstration brings skyrmions closer to real-world computing applications.

Magnetic insulators (MIs) attract tremendous interest for spintronic applications due to low Gilbert damping and the absence of Ohmic loss. Spin-orbit torques (SOTs) on MIs are more intriguing than magnetic metals since SOTs cannot be transferred to MIs through direct injection of electron spins. Understanding of SOTs on MIs remains elusive, especially how SOTs scale with the MI film thickness. Here, we observe the critical role of dimensionality on the SOT efficiency by studying the MI layer thickness-dependent SOT efficiency in tungsten/thulium iron garnet (W/TmIG) bilayers. We show that the TmIG thin film evolves from two-dimensional to three-dimensional magnetic phase transitions as the thickness increases. We report the significant enhancement of the measured SOT efficiency as the TmIG thickness increases, which is attributed to the increase of the magnetic moment density. We demonstrate the current-induced SOT switching in the W/TmIG bilayers with a TmIG thickness up to 15 nm., The spin-orbit torque (SOT) induced magnetic switching makes metal/magnetic insulators bilayers preferred in the energy efficient spintronic applications. Here the authors show SOT switching in W/TmIG bilayers and reveal the dimension crossover of SOT as a function of TmIG thickness.

Deterministic switching of magnetization via spin-orbit torque, without an external magnetic field, is an attractive approach for nonvolatile memory and logic devices. This can be accomplished using in-plane exchange bias instead of an applied field. The authors study the mechanism of this switching, and expose the importance of Joule heating: Field-free current-driven switching is achieved in experiments, but care must be taken so that heating does not decrease exchange bias and spoil the switching.

Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in structurally asymmetric multilayers have been used to efficiently manipulate magnetization. In a structure with vertical symmetry breaking, a damping-like SOT can deterministically switch a perpendicular magnet, provided an in-plane magnetic field is applied. Recently, it has been further demonstrated that the in-plane magnetic field can be eliminated by introducing a new type of perpendicular field-like SOT via incorporating a lateral structural asymmetry into the device. Typically, however, when a current is applied to such devices with combined vertical and lateral asymmetries, both the perpendicular field-like torque and the damping-like torque coexist, hence jointly affecting the magnetization switching behavior. Here, we study perpendicular magnetization switching driven by the combination of the perpendicular field-like and the damping-like SOTs, which exhibits deterministic switching mediated through domain wall propagation. It is demonstrated that the role of the damping-like SOT in the deterministic switching is highly dependent on the magnetization direction in the domain wall. By contrast, the perpendicular field-like SOT is solely determined by the relative orientation between the lateral structural asymmetry and the current direction, regardless of the magnetization direction in the domain wall. The experimental results further the understanding of SOTs-induced switching, with implications for spintronic devices.

In this Letter, we report the observation of thermally induced rotation of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). After the rotation, two thermally stable configurations of graphene on h-BN with a relative lattice twisting angle of 0° (most stable) and 30° (metastable), respectively, were found. Graphene on h-BN with a twisting angle below (above) a critical angle of ∼12±2° tends to rotate towards 0° (30°) at a temperature of >100 °C, which is in line with our theoretical simulations. In addition, by manipulating the annealing temperature and the flake sizes of graphene, moire superlattices with large spatial periods of graphene on h-BN are achieved. Our studies provide a detailed understanding of the thermodynamic properties of graphene on h-BN and a feasible approach to obtaining van der Waals heterostructures with aligned lattices.

We report a planar graphene/SiO(2) nanogap structure for multilevel resistive switching. Nanosized gaps created on a SiO(2) substrate by electrical breakdown of nanographene electrodes were used as channels for resistive switching. Two-terminal devices exhibited excellent memory characteristics with good endurance up to 10(4) cycles, long retention time more than 10(5) s, and fast switching speed down to 500 ns. At least five conduction states with reliability and reproducibility were demonstrated in these memory devices. The mechanism of the resistance switching effect was attributed to a reversible thermal-assisted reduction and oxidation process that occurred at the breakdown region of the SiO(2) substrate. In addition, the uniform and wafer-size nanographene films with controlled layer thickness and electrical resistivity were grown directly on SiO(2) substrates for scalable device fabrications, making it attractive for developing high-density and low-cost nonvolatile memories.

The mechanism of the resistive switching (RS) effect in graphene oxide (GO) thin films prepared by the vacuum filtration method has been investigated by macroscopic current–voltage (I–V) measurements and conducting atomic force microscopy (CAFM). Detailed I–V measurements show that in metal/GO/Pt sandwiches, the RS originates from the formation and rupture of conducting filaments. An analysis of the temperature dependence of the ON-state resistance reveals that the filaments are composed of metal atoms due to the diffusion of the top electrodes under a bias voltage. Moreover, the RS is found to occur within confined regions of the metal filaments. The RS effect is also observed in GO/Pt structures by CAFM. It is attributed to the redox reactions between GO and adsorbed water induced by external voltage biases.

Nanographene is a promising alternative to metal nanoparticles or semiconductor nanocrystals for charge trapping memory. In general, a high density of nanographene is required in order to achieve high charge trapping capacity. Here, we demonstrate a strategy of fabrication for a high density of nanographene for charge trapping memory with a large memory window. The fabrication includes two steps: (1) direct growth of continuous nanographene film; and (2) isolation of the as-grown film into high-density nanographene by plasma etching. Compared with directly grown isolated nanographene islands, abundant defects and edges are formed in nanographene under argon or oxygen plasma etching, i.e. more isolated nanographene islands are obtained, which provides more charge trapping sites. As-fabricated nanographene charge trapping memory shows outstanding memory properties with a memory window as wide as ∼9 V at a relative low sweep voltage of ±8 V, program/erase speed of ∼1 ms and robust endurance of >1000 cycles. The high-density nanographene charge trapping memory provides an outstanding alternative for downscaling technology beyond the current flash memory.

Graphene-based strain sensors have attracted much attention recently. Usually, there is a trade-off between the sensitivity and resistance of such devices, while larger resistance devices have higher energy consumption. In this paper, we report a tuning of both sensitivity and resistance of graphene strain sensing devices by tailoring graphene nanostructures. For a typical piezoresistive nanographene film with a sheet resistance of ∼100 KΩ/□, a gauge factor of more than 600 can be achieved, which is 50× larger than those in previous studies. These films with high sensitivity and low resistivity were also transferred on flexible substrates for device integration for force mapping. Each device shows a high gauge factor of more than 500, a long lifetime of more than 10(4) cycles, and a fast response time of less than 4 ms, suggesting a great potential in electronic skin applications.

Manipulation of an isolated water nanodroplet (WN) on certain surfaces is important to various nanofluidic applications but challenging. Here we present a digital nanofluidic system based on a graphene/water/mica sandwich structure. In this architecture, graphene provides a flexible protection layer to isolate WNs from the outside environment, and a monolayer ice-like layer formed on the mica surface acts as a lubricant layer to allow these trapped WNs to move on it freely. In combination with scanning probe microscope techniques, we are able to move, merge, and separate individual water nanodroplets in a controlled manner. The smallest manipulatable water nanodroplet has a volume down to yoctoliter (10(-24) L) scale.