Graphene chemical sensors for heliophysics applications

Abstract

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms that offer a unique set of advantages as a chemical sensor due to a number of its inherent properties. Graphene has been explored as a gas sensor for a variety of gases, and molecular sensitivity has been demonstrated by measuring the change in electrical properties due to the adsorption of target species (Schedin, F.; Geim, A.K.; Morozov, S.V.; Hill, E.W.; Blake, P.; Katsnelson, M.I.; Novoselov, K.S. Nat. Mater 2007, 6, 652–655. doi:10.1038/nmat1967). In this paper, we discuss the development of an array of chemical sensors based on graphene and its relevance to plasma physics due to its sensitivity to radical species such as O+, H+ and the corresponding neutrals. We briefly discuss the great impact such sensors will have on a number of heliophysics applications such as ground-based manifestations of space weather.

Keywords:

• graphene
• chemical sensor
• atomic oxygen
• atomic oxygen ion
• ionospheric plasma