Laserlab-Europe Talk: Optical modification of graphene for applications, 23 April 2025

Speaker: Mika Pettersson (Laserlab-NSC)

Graphene and other 2D materials have many excellent properties but seldom they can be used as such in advanced applications. One option is to chemically modify and functionalize 2D materials. However, many applications require spatially selective functionalization and patterning. Laser-based methods offer many advantages in this regard. A common optical material modification technique is laser ablation. However, for graphene, more interesting condition is just below the ablation threshold, where non-linear excitation of material takes place. Under these conditions, graphene reacts with adsorbed oxygen and water present in ambient air, leading to oxidative functionalization without breaking the carbon lattice integrity [1]. Interestingly, optically induced local functionalization of graphene leads to many opportunities for development of applications via processes such as: modification of electronic properties [1], locally selective immobilization of proteins [2,3], area-selective atomic or molecular layer deposition [4,5], modification of optical properties [6], tuning of the response of sensors [7], or affecting molecular self-assembly [8]. The methods can be applied for development of sensors, (opto)electronic devices, flexible and transparent electronics, bioelectronics, and so on.

In this talk, I will introduce controlled oxidative functionalization of graphene by femtosecond laser excitation and show several examples of how this method can be used to facilitate development of functional devices.

References
[1] J. Aumanen et al., Nanoscale, 7, 2851-2855 (2015).
[2] E. D. Sitsanidis et al. Nanoscale Adv. 3, 2065 – 2074 (2021).
[3] A. Lampinen et al. RSC Appl. Interfaces, 1, 1305 (2024).
[4] K. K. Mentel et al. Adv. Mater. Interfaces 9, 2201110 (2022).
[5] A, V. Emelianov et al. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-81qv0, ChemRxiv
[6] V.-M-. Hiltunen et al. J. Phys. Chem. C, 124, 8371 – 8377 (2020).
[7] A. Lampinen et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 25, 10778 – 10784 (2023).
[8] J. Schirmer et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 25, 8725 – 8733 (2023).