Transfer free graphene growth on SiO2 substrate at 250 °C

Abstract

Low-temperature growth, as well as the transfer free growth on substrates, is the major concern of graphene research for its practical applications. Here we propose a simple method to achieve the transfer free graphene growth on SiO2 covered Si (SiO2/Si) substrate at 250 °C based on a solid-liquid-solid reaction. The key to this approach is the catalyst metal, which is not popular for graphene growth by chemical vapor deposition. A catalyst metal film of 500 nm thick was deposited onto an amorphous C (50 nm thick) coated SiO2/Si substrate. The sample was then annealed at 250 °C under vacuum condition. Raman spectra measured after the removal of the catalyst by chemical etching showed intense G and 2D peaks together with a small D and intense SiO2 related peaks, confirming the transfer free growth of multilayer graphene on SiO2/Si. The domain size of the graphene confirmed by optical microscope and atomic force microscope was about 5 μm in an average. Thus, this approach will open up a new route for transfer free graphene growth at low temperatures.

Graphene formation at 150 °C using indium as catalyst

“…In fact, it was demonstrated very recently that graphene can form even at the temperature as low as 250 C using Sn, a low melting point (MP) metal catalyst by solid-liquid-solid phase reaction. 27 Carbon atoms in molten metal would meet this condition. MP of bulk In is 156.6 C, and it is also well-known that the smaller the particle size, the lower the MP.…”

“…[22][23][24] They were featured by metal nanoparticles dispersed in amorphous CNF matrix and transferred into graphene and CNT only aer the electron current ow (resistive Joule heating) or heating in vacuum. 23,25,26 Very recently, Sn, which is not popular as a catalyst for the CVD graphene growth, was demonstrated to be promising as a novel catalyst for the low-temperature transfer-free graphene growth (at 250 C) 27 directly on SiO 2 substrate by our group. This inspired us for the further selection of suitable metals to be included into ion-induced CNFs for synthesizing highly crystalline graphene at lower temperatures.…”

Low-temperature synthesis of large-area graphene-based carbon films on Ni

“…The diffusion and segregation processes of carbon differ from those at high temperatures and rely on the concentration gradients. Even in recent work reporting conversion of amorphous carbon to graphene at 250 °C by using tin as catalyst [21], only discontinuous graphene flakes were formed. In particular, Weatherup et al reported that graphene with domain sizes of > 220 μm² could grow on polycrystalline Ni-Au catalyst films at 450-600 °C, indicating the possibility of large-area graphene growth [17].…”

Review of Graphene Growth From a Solid Carbon Source by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)

“…Co has the highest solubility for carbon and Fe is cheaper than Ni and Co. Today, nickel and copper are receiving the most attention as substrate materials for graphene growth because they are inexpensive and are standard materials for electronic applications. Other metals and alloys including tin (Vishwakarma et al, 2017 ) and Ni-Cu alloy (Abd Elhamid A. M. et al, 2017 ) have also been used for graphene synthesis.…”

“…Vishwakarma et al ( 2017 ) reported an attempt to grow multi-layer graphene at a low temperature (250°C) using another metal catalyst, tin (Sn) and the PLD technique. In fact, this is the first attempt to grow PLD graphene using tin as catalyst.…”