Epitaxial Growth Processes of Graphene on Silicon Substrates

Abstract

Few-layers graphene is epitaxially grown on silicon substrates via SiC thin films inserted in between. We have conducted a detailed structural characterization of this graphene-on-silicon (GOS) material by Raman spectroscopy and transmission-electron microscopy, to obtain insights into the impacts of process parameters on defect formation. Results suggest that defects in graphene preferentially dwell at steps. Future flattening of the SiC surface, prior to graphene growth, is thus expected to contribute to the improvement of GOS quality.