Open AccessSeeded Growth of Ultrathin Carbon Films Directly onto Silicon Substrates
Author(s) -
Zhichen Yan,
Rakesh Joshi,
Yi You,
Geedhika K. Poduval,
John A. Stride
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acs omega
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 2470-1343
DOI - 10.1021/acsomega.0c05770
Subject(s) - graphene , materials science , silicon , raman spectroscopy , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , graphene oxide paper , chemical vapor deposition , nanotechnology , graphene nanoribbons , graphite , chemical engineering , scanning electron microscope , substrate (aquarium) , carbon film , silicon oxide , carbon fibers , oxide , thin film , layer (electronics) , optoelectronics , composite material , optics , silicon nitride , composite number , engineering , oceanography , physics , geology , metallurgy
The production of graphene films is of importance for the large-scale application of graphene-based materials; however, there is still a lack of an efficient and effective approach to synthesize graphene films directly on dielectric substrates. Here, we report the controlled growth of ultrathin carbon films, which have a similar structure to graphene, directly on silicon substrates in a process of seeded chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Crystalline silicon with a thermally grown 300 nm oxide layer was first treated with 3-trimethoxysilyl-1-propanamine (APS), which was used as an anchor point for the covalent deposition of small graphene flakes, obtained from graphite using the Hummers' method. Surface coverage of these flakes on the silicon substrate was estimated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to be around only 0.01% of the total area. By treating the covalently deposited graphene as seeds for CVD growth, the coverage was increased to >40% when using ethanol as the carbon source. Examination of the carbon thin films with SEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy indicated that they consist of domains of coherent, single-layer graphene produced by the coalescence of the expanding graphene islands. This approach potentially lends itself to the production of high-quality graphene films that may be suitable for device fabrication.