ABSTRACT
Graphene is a promising material in nanotechnology, because of its unique and outstanding electronic and mechanical properties. There is a high demand for new etching methods to be developed to pattern graphene with good performance, high yield rate, controllability, and low complexity. Most of the techniques showing low yield rates or extremely complex operations are not suitable for real applications, even though fine patterns can be achieved. The plasma technique seems to be the best possible solution and provides high-quality graphene etching. In this entry, we first provide a brief overview of the approaches developed for graphene etching, and then, the knowledge on plasma etching of graphene is reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on techniques developed for nanostructure patterning and controllable layer-by-layer removal of graphene layers. Finally, plasma etching–induced damages in graphene are also discussed.
