Facile technique for the removal of metal contamination from graphene

Metal contamination deposited on few-layer graphene (3 ± 1 monolayers) grown on SiC(0001) was successfully removed from the surface, using low cost adhesive tape. More than 99% of deposited silver contamination was removed from the surface via peeling, causing minimal damage to the graphene. A small...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of vacuum science and technology. B, Nanotechnology & microelectronics Nanotechnology & microelectronics, 2015-09, Vol.33 (5)
Main Authors: Wells, George H., Hunt, Michael R. C., Hopf, Toby, Vassilevski, Konstantin V., Escobedo-Cousin, Enrique, Horsfall, Alton B., Goss, Jonathan P., O'Neill, Anthony
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Metal contamination deposited on few-layer graphene (3 ± 1 monolayers) grown on SiC(0001) was successfully removed from the surface, using low cost adhesive tape. More than 99% of deposited silver contamination was removed from the surface via peeling, causing minimal damage to the graphene. A small change in the adhesion of graphene to the SiC(0001) substrate was indicated by changes observed in pleat defects on the surface; however, atomic resolution images show the graphene lattice remains pristine. Thin layers of contamination deposited via an electron gun during Auger electron spectroscopy/low energy electron diffraction measurements were also found to be removable by this technique. This contamination showed similarities to “roughened” graphene previously reported in the literature.
ISSN:2166-2746
2166-2754
DOI:10.1116/1.4928422