Large-area monolayer graphene samples grown on polycrystalline copper foil by thermal chemical vapor deposition with differing CH4 flux and growth time are investigated by Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy. The defects, number of layers, and quality of graphene are shown to be controllable through tuning the reaction conditions： ideally to 2-3 sccm CH4 for 30 minutes.
Intercalations of metals and silicon between epitaxial graphene and its substrates are reviewed. For metal intercala- tion, seven different metals have been successfully intercalated at the interface of graphene/Ru（O001） and form different intercalated structures. Meanwhile, graphene maintains its original high quality after the intercalation and shows features of weakened interaction with the substrate. For silicon intercalation, two systems, graphene on Ru（O001） and on Ir（l I 1）, have been investigated. In both cases, graphene preserves its high quality and regains its original superlative properties after the silicon intercalation. More importantly, we demonstrate that thicker silicon layers can be intercalated at the interface, which allows the atomic control of the distance between graphene and the metal substrates. These results show the great potential of the intercalation method as a non-damaging approach to decouple epitaxial graphene from its substrates and even form a dielectric layer for future electronic applications.
We report on temperature-programmed growth of graphene islands on Ru （0001） at annealing temperatures of 700 ℃, 800 ℃, and 900 ℃. The sizes of the islands each show a nonlinear increase with the annealing temperature. In 700 ℃ and 800 ℃annealings, the islands have nearly the same sizes and their ascending edges are embedded in the upper steps of the ruthenium substrate, which is in accordance with the etching growth mode. In 900 ℃ annealing, the islands are much larger and of lower quality, which represents the early stage of Smoluchowski ripening. A longer time annealing at 900 ℃ brings the islands to final equilibrium with an ordered moire pattern. Our work provides new details about graphene early growth stages that could facilitate the better control of such a growth to obtain graphene with ideal size and high quality.
