We present a new route for the fabrication of ultrathin (~1 nm) carbon films and membranes, whose electrical behavior can be tuned from insulating to conducting. Self-assembled monolayers of biphenyls are cross-linked by electrons, detached from the surfaces and subsequently pyrolized. Above 1000K, the cross-linked aromatic monolayer forms a mechanically stable graphitic phase. The transition is accompanied by a drop of the sheet resistivity from ~10^8 to ~10^2 kOhm/sq and a mechanical stiffening of the nanomembranes from ~10 to ~50 GPa. The technical applicability of the nanosheets is demonstrated by incorporating them into a microscopic pressure sensor
@article{arxiv.1105.5791,
title = {One nanometer thin carbon nanosheets with tunable conductivity and stiffness},
author = {Andrey Turchanin and Andre Beyer and Christoph Nottbohm and Xianghui Zhang and Rainer Stosch and Alla Sologubenko and Joachim Mayer and Peter Hinze and Thomas Weimann and Armin Golzhauser},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.5791},
year = {2011}
}