Single-step growth of graphene and graphene-based nanostructures by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

The realization of many promising technological applications of graphene and graphenebased nanostructures depends on the availability of reliable, scalable, high-yield and low-cost synthesis methods. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) has been a versatile technique for synthesizing many carbon-based materials, because PECVD provides a rich chemical environment, including a mixture of radicals, molecules and ions from hydrocarbon precursors, which enables graphene growth on a variety of material surfaces at lower temperatures and faster growth than typical thermal chemical vapor deposition (T-CVD). Here we review recent advances in the PECVD techniques for synthesis of various graphene and graphene-based nanostructures, including horizontal growth of monolayer and multilayer graphene sheets, vertical growth of graphene nanostructures (VG-GNs) such as graphene nanostripes (GNSPs) with large aspect ratios, direct and selective deposition of monolayer and multi-layer graphene on nanostructured substrates, and growth of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). By properly controlling the gas environment of the plasma, it is found that no active heating is necessary for the PECVD growth processes, and that highyield growth can take place in a single step on a variety of surfaces, including metallic, semiconducting and insulating materials. Phenomenological understanding of the growth mechanisms are described. Finally, challenges and promising outlook for further development in the PECVD techniques for graphene-based applications are discussed.

Direct large-area growth of graphene on silicon for potential ultra-low-friction applications and silicon-based technologies

“…In figure 1(a) we show a representative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of as-grown graphene sheets fully covering the underlying Si substrate after only 10 minutes of PECVD growth. Details of the synthesis conditions are described in the Experimental section, and experimental setup of the PECVD system has been reported previously [48,49]. The SEM image indicates that the as-grown graphene layers generally exhibit multi-domain distributions with varying thicknesses.…”

Progress and Prospects on the Fabrication of Graphene‐Based Nanostructures for Energy Storage, Energy Conversion and Biomedical Applications

“…A recent review by Yeh et al elaborated the growth of graphene by PECVD on various substrates involving a single step. [68] Wang et al introduced microwave plasma into CVD route for the synthesis of large-scale single-layer graphene using PMMA as the carbon source at reduced temperature. [69] Utilization of plasma can effectively avoid the evaporation of PMMA before its decomposition.…”

Direct growth of mm-size twisted bilayer graphene by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

“…However, the multiple steps required in preparing the substrates and the high synthesis temperature in thermal CVD growth of graphene render the process relatively time consuming and expensive, and also incompatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Recently, we have demonstrated the feasibility of single-step growth of high-mobility monolayer graphene (MLG) by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) techniques in a few minutes without the need of active heating [17,18], which paves ways to a CMOS-compatible approach to graphene synthesis [18].…”