Direct CVD Growth of High Quality Single Layer Graphene on Dielectric Substrates

Many applications of graphene especially for the fabrication of electrical devices require physical placement of graphene on dielectric substrates. Several strategies developed for the graphene device fabrication include 1) mechanical exfoliation of graphene on a dielectric substrate followed by fabrication, 2) graphene growth on metal catalysts by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process followed by transferring it onto dielectric substrates and fabrication, 3) dispersion of reduced graphene oxides (RGOs) on dielectric substrates followed by fabrication, etc. To utilize the intrinsic high charge carrier mobility of graphene, however, a direct synthesis of graphene by CVD on dielectric substrates is highly demanding. In this presentation, I will introduce our recent experimental results demonstrating successful direct growth of graphene on various dielectric substrates, such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), sapphire, quartz, and amorphous SiO2/Si, thus excluding complex transfer process to secure the quality of graphene by excluding impurities that are accompanied during the transfer process. The detailed growth mechanism involved in graphene nucleation and growth propagation on various substrates will be also discussed. References 1. Kim, H.; Son, Y.; Park, C.; Cho, J.; Choi, H. C. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 5997-6001. Catalyst-free Direct Growth of a Single to a Few Layers of Graphene on a Germanium Nanowire for the Anode Material of a Lithium Battery 2. Song, H. J.; Son, M.; Park, C.; Lim, H.; Levendorf, M. P.; Tsen, A. W.; Park, J.; Choi, H. C. Nanoscale 2012, 4, 3050-3054. Large scale metal-free synthesis of graphene on sapphire and transfer-free device fabrication. 3. Son, M.; Lim, H.; Hong, M.; Choi, H. C. Nanoscale, 2011, 3, 3089-3093. Direct Growth of Graphene Pad on Exfoliated Hexagonal Boron Nitride Surface.