Liquid-source growth of graphene on Ag(001)

• Published in: Physica Status Solidi. B: Basic Solid State Physics 2015-08, Vol.252 (8), p.1695-1699
• Main Authors: Grandthyll, Samuel, Jacobs, Karin, Müller, Frank
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access routes; Carbon; Chemical vapor deposition; Epitaxial growth; Fermi surface mapping; Graphene; growth; LEED; Silver; Solid state physics; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0370-1972; 1521-3951
• DOI: 10.1002/pssb.201552048

The epitaxial growth of graphene on the Ag(001) surface via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of propene and via liquid precursor deposition (LPD) by ex situ rinsing with acetone is investigated by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and Fermi surface mapping (FSM). In case of LPD, the growth of graphene is quite similar to that previously obtained for h‐BN monolayers on the same surface. The weak interaction between the graphene layer and the Ag(001) surface prevents a preferred alignment of the graphene lattice, leading to graphene domains with statistically distributed azimuthal orientations. In contrast to the LPD method, it is not possible to provide any carbon via the standard CVD technique. The present results give evidence that LPD represents a promising alternative for the growth of graphene, especially on weakly interacting surfaces. Graphene, the new prodigy in solid state physics and material science, is expected to replace silicon in future nanoelectronic devices. In the present study, a new synthesis route is presented to grow graphene also on very weakly interacting substrates, such as Ag. Epitaxial graphene with small covalent interface bonding may enable access to reliable procedures for transferring graphene from thin metal films to insulating substrates.