  Graphene-based materials have been suggested for applications ranging from
nanoelectronics to nanobiotechnology. However, the realization of
graphene-based technologies will require large quantities of free-standing
two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials with tuneable physical and chemical
properties. Bottom-up approaches via molecular self-assembly have great
potential to fulfil this demand. Here, we report on the fabrication and
characterization of graphene made by electron-radiation induced cross-linking
of aromatic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and their subsequent annealing. In
this process, the SAM is converted into a nanocrystalline graphene sheet with
well defined thickness and arbitrary dimensions. Electric transport data
demonstrate that this transformation is accompanied by an insulator to metal
transition that can be utilized to control electrical properties such as
conductivity, electron mobility and ambipolar electric field effect of the
fabricated graphene sheets. The suggested route opens broad prospects towards
the engineering of free-standing 2D carbon materials with tuneable properties
on various solid substrates and on holey substrates as suspended membranes.
