Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Vol. 15, No. 2, August 2019, pp. 697~703 ISSN: 2502-4752, DOI: 10.11591/ijeecs.v15.i2.pp697-703  697 Journal homepage: http://iaescore.com/journals/index.php/ijeecs Channel length scaling and electrical characterization of graphene field effect transistor (GFET) Reena Sri Selvarajan, Burhanuddin Yeop Majlis, Norliana Yusof, Azrul Azlan Hamzah Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received Oct 20, 2018 Revised Feb 22, 2019 Accepted Mar 5, 2019 The exclusive monoatomic framework of graphene makes it as an alluring material to be implemented in electronic devices. Thus, using graphene as charge carrying conducting channel material in Field Effect Transistors (FET) expedites the opportunities for production of ultrasensitive biosensors for future device applications. However, performance of GFET is influenced by various parameters, particularly by the length of conducting channel. Therefore, in this study we have investigated channel length scaling in performance of graphene field effect transistor (GFET) via simulation technique using Lumerical DEVICE software. The performance was analyzed based on electrical characterization of GFET with long and short conducting channels. It proves that conducting channel lengths have vast effect on ambipolar curve where short channel induces asymmetry in transfer characteristics curve where the n-branch is suppressed. Whereas for output characteristics, the performance of GFET heavily degraded as the channel length is reduced in short channels of GFET. Therefore, channel length scaling is a vital parameter in determining the performance of GFET in various fields, particularly in biosensing applications for ultrasensitive detection. Keywords: Ambipolar Channel length GFET Short channel effect Transfer characteristics Copyright © 2019 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved. Corresponding Author: Azrul Azlan Hamzah, Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Malaysia. Email: azlanhamzah@ukm.edu.my 1. INTRODUCTION Graphene is a allotrope of carbon and two dimensional (2-D) material which is made up of single layer of carbon atoms organized in honeycomb lattice arrangement [1]. This exclusive monoatomic architecture of graphene offers pre-eminent properties such as high conductivity, high mechanical strength including 1 TPa Young’s Modulus and 130 GPa tensile strength for single layer [2], high carrier mobilities up to which is 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than conventional semiconductor such as silicon. In addition, graphene is extremely sensitive to electric field and its neighboring charges as every atoms of it is disclosed to the surrounding. Thus, this give rise to making it as a favourable material to be applied in electronic devices, particulary for biosensing applications. Graphene provides significant advantages over current standards in biosensing due to its unique properties which are ultrahigh sensitivity and excellent stability [3]. Among myriad electrical biosensing reported, devices based on field effect transistors have attracted much consideration [4]-[8]. A typical planar field effect transistor (FET) is consists of three contact conducting electrodes which are source(S), drain (D), and gate (G) electrodes, thin insulating layer (dielectric) and a semiconducting layer where charge carriers flow. The current carrying channel is in direct contact with surrounding and this provides better control on surface charge [9]. Therefore, GFET biosensors are favorable and more sensitive as it able to directly translate interactions of biomolecules on its surface into readable electrical signals [10]-[12].