Large Area, Few-Layer Graphene Films on Arbitrary Substrates by Chemical Vapor Deposition

TLDR

The authors aim to develop a low‑cost, scalable ambient‑pressure CVD method on polycrystalline Ni to produce large‑area single‑ to few‑layer graphene films transferable to arbitrary substrates. They achieve this by ambient‑pressure CVD on Ni films, followed by transfer of the resulting graphene to non‑specific substrates. The resulting films span 1–12 layers, contain single‑ or bilayer regions up to 20 µm, are continuous across the entire area, can be lithographically patterned, and exhibit transparency, conductivity, and ambipolar transfer characteristics suitable for electronic and opto‑electronic applications.

Abstract

In this work we present a low cost and scalable technique, via ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on polycrystalline Ni films, to fabricate large area ( approximately cm2) films of single- to few-layer graphene and to transfer the films to nonspecific substrates. These films consist of regions of 1 to approximately 12 graphene layers. Single- or bilayer regions can be up to 20 mum in lateral size. The films are continuous over the entire area and can be patterned lithographically or by prepatterning the underlying Ni film. The transparency, conductivity, and ambipolar transfer characteristics of the films suggest their potential as another materials candidate for electronics and opto-electronic applications.