EU project to standardize graphene measurements

Graphenea is participating in a EU project to enable standardized electrical measurements for future graphene-based electronics. The focus of the project “Grace” is on the development of novel electrical characterization methodologies. Grace brings together graphene producers, metrologists, equipment manufacturers and standardization experts from four countries in a consortium driven to develop industrial-scale graphene characterization tools.

Having started with a kick-off meeting in Torino (Italy) in July 2017, the project will run until July 2020. The consortium consists of Instituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM), Centro Español de Metrología (CEM), NPL Management Limited (NPL), Das-Nano S.L., Graphenea, ISC International Standards Consulting GmbH & Co. KG (ISC), The University of Manchester (UoM) and VDE Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e.V (VDE).

Grace is part of EMPIR, the main programme for European research on metrology, which currently coordinates more than 20 metrology projects across disciplines such as air quality, 3D stacked integrated circuits, biomethane, single-electron devices, etc. The project already resulted in a published comparison of existing experimental methods for electrical characterization of graphene. The objectives of project Grace include:

  • Development of an accurate and traceable approach for the electrical characterization of graphene for both contact and non-contact electrical measurements, with traceability to SI units.
  • Development of a high-throughput approach for the electrical characterization of graphene and its validation with established techniques.
  • Dissemination of the methodologies established in this project in the form of Good Practice Guides (GPGs) and input to documentary standards.
  • Contribution to the standards development work of the technical committees of IEC/TC113 and CENELEC WS SGRM

As such, this project is on the forefront of graphene standardization, which has been a top priority for graphene technology development continuously over the past years, and is one of the primary goals of the Graphene Flagship project.