Highly Stable Persistent Photoconductivity with Suspended Graphene Nanoribbons

Graphene nanoribbon (GNR), also known as 1-dimensional graphene, with a non-zero band gap has a huge potential for various electrical and optoelectrical applications because of its high transparency, flexibility, controllable band gap, and unique edge states. Recent advances in the synthesis of GNR enable us to show the possibility of GNRs as future high performance electrical devices. However, the applicability of GNRs to optoelectrical devices is unclear. Here we report that suspended GNR devices can show persistent photoconductivity (PPC) with long decay time (over 72 h) and adequate environmental stability. Repeated non-volatile memory operation is also demonstrated with an integrated PPC device using GNRs. This very stable PPC device can be applied to a wide variety of fields such as ultra-low-power non-volatile memory, nanoscale imaging, and biological sensors. Our results have opened the door to advance the study of GNRs in novel directions such as optoelectrical applications.