Catalytic Growth of Graphene: Toward Large-Area Single-Crystalline Graphene

Abstract

For electronic applications, synthesis of large-area, single-layer graphene with high crystallinity is required. One of the most promising and widely employed methods is chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using Cu foil/film as the catalyst. However, the CVD graphene is generally polycrystalline and contains a significant amount of domain boundaries that limit intrinsic physical properties of graphene. In this Perspective, we discuss the growth mechanism of graphene on a Cu catalyst and review recent development in the observation and control of the domain structure of graphene. We emphasize the importance of the growth condition and crystallinity of the Cu catalyst for the realization of large-area, single-crystalline graphene.

Quality of graphene on sapphire: long-range order from helium diffraction versus lattice defects from Raman spectroscopy

“…So far, most of the methods reported have not produced Gr layers of quality comparable to that obtained for instance on Cu. [5][6][7][8][9] Typically, the Raman D-peak (related to the presence of defects) is larger than the G-peak, indicating small grain size ($15 nm). For Gr on sapphire, a few methods have been reported in which the Raman D-peak was signicantly reduced; these methods are either based on the high-temperature (1500-1600 C) decomposition of the precursor gas without using a metal catalyst 10,11 or by direct CVD growth on dielectric surfaces by simultaneously dewetting the Cu lm.…”

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation of dissociation of methane on nickel(1 1 1) surface: Unravelling initial stage of graphene growth via a CVD technique

“…Especially, the interaction between the metal surface and graphene is widely studied focusing on commensurate orientational relationships (called an epitaxy) between graphene and the metal surface with close-packed facet such as fcc(1 1 1) and hcp(0 0 0 1) [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], although such epitaxy has been suggested for a long time in the field of surface science prior to the discovery of CNTs and graphene [10,11]. Recently, epitaxial growth of the graphene on the highly orientated metal surface via the CVD process becomes a reality [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and the mechanism of epitaxial growth has been examined. For example, Li and co-workers [13] used the carbon isotope labelling to track carbon atoms during the graphene growth on Ni and Cu surface and proposed two formation paths for the graphene growth: carbon diffusion, segregation and precipitation for the Ni (high carbon solubility metal) and surface adsorption and edge growth on the Cu (low carbon solubility metal).…”

Application of Graphene in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

“…To a large extent, the highly internal impurities and scarcely structural defects promote electron mobility rate in graphene by reducing the electron scattering in transport process, 10 times higher than silicon [9]. The resistivity of graphene is lower than that of silver [10]. Graphene has very low Johnson noise (Johnson noise is generated by the thermal vibrations of the carriers inside the electric conductor), so graphene can be used as a channel for the field effect transistor [11].…”