The Growth of Graphene on Ni–Cu Alloy Thin Films at a Low Temperature and Its Carbon Diffusion Mechanism

Abstract

Carbon solid solubility in metals is an important factor affecting uniform graphene growth by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at high temperatures. At low temperatures, however, it was found that the carbon diffusion rate (CDR) on the metal catalyst surface has a greater impact on the number and uniformity of graphene layers compared with that of the carbon solid solubility. The CDR decreases rapidly with decreasing temperatures, resulting in inhomogeneous and multilayer graphene. In the present work, a Ni–Cu alloy sacrificial layer was used as the catalyst based on the following properties. Cu was selected to increase the CDR, while Ni was used to provide high catalytic activity. By plasma-enhanced CVD, graphene was grown on the surface of Ni–Cu alloy under low pressure using methane as the carbon source. The optimal composition of the Ni–Cu alloy, 1:2, was selected through experiments. In addition, the plasma power was optimized to improve the graphene quality. On the basis of the parameter optimization, together with our previously-reported, in-situ, sacrificial metal-layer etching technique, relatively homogeneous wafer-size patterned graphene was obtained directly on a 2-inch SiO2/Si substrate at a low temperature (~600 °C).

In situ growth of graphene catalyzed by phase-change material at 400 oC for wafer-scale optoelectronic device application

“…It should be notes that the 2D peak of the obtained graphene is not obvious and the D peak is high, indicating that the quality of the graphene still needs to be improved. The poor quality may be related to the low diffusion rate of carbon atoms on the V 2 O 5 surface at a low temperature 30,31 . The similar phenomenon has also been observed on Cu (Supplementary Fig.…”

Chemical Vapour Deposition of Graphene—Synthesis, Characterisation, and Applications: A Review

“…Historically, transition metals were the preferred substrate choice for graphene growth [ 21 , 116 ]. Transition metals have been studied extensively in the literature and found to produce graphene of high quality and crystallinity [ 21 , 30 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 ]. While most of the work has been done on solid metals, recent advances in liquid metals show promises in this field [ 90 , 117 ].…”

“…Transition metals have been studied extensively in the literature and found to produce graphene of high quality and crystallinity [ 21 , 30 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 ]. While most of the work has been done on solid metals, recent advances in liquid metals show promises in this field [ 90 , 117 ]. This review will investigate the recent advances in both solid and liquid metals and the critical aspects of each group of substrates.…”

“…However, before diving more in-depth in the metallic substrates, it should be mentioned that other types of materials have also been drawing scientists’ attention, especially in the semiconductor field. One drawback in metallic substrates is the potential mechanical and chemical damage caused when isolating and transferring the graphene from the substrate [ 117 , 119 , 120 ]. Thus, other types of substrates have been investigated in literature like dielectrics and silicon-based materials [ 30 , 118 ].…”

3D Graphene Foam by Chemical Vapor Deposition: Synthesis, Properties, and Energy-Related Applications

“…In addition to a single metallic catalyst, Ni-Cu foam alloys were also employed to grow graphene foams with a controlled number of layers [ 18 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Starting from commercial nickel foam by melting and diffusion of the Cu film, they obtained Ni-Cu alloys that allowed them to control the number of graphene layers.…”