Fabrication and Characterization of Pre-Defined Few-Layer Graphene

Tingting Wang; Liangguang Jia; Quanzhen Zhang; Ziqiang Xu; Zeping Huang; Peiwen Yuan; Baofei Hou; Xuan Song; Kaiqi Nie; Chen Liu; Jiaou Wang; Huixia Yang; Liwei Liu; Teng Zhang; Yeliang Wang

doi:10.3390/physchem3010002

Physchem (Dec 2022)

Fabrication and Characterization of Pre-Defined Few-Layer Graphene

Tingting Wang,
Liangguang Jia,
Quanzhen Zhang,
Ziqiang Xu,
Zeping Huang,
Peiwen Yuan,
Baofei Hou,
Xuan Song,
Kaiqi Nie,
Chen Liu,
Jiaou Wang,
Huixia Yang,
Liwei Liu,
Teng Zhang,
Yeliang Wang

Affiliations

Tingting Wang: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Liangguang Jia: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Quanzhen Zhang: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Ziqiang Xu: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Zeping Huang: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Peiwen Yuan: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Baofei Hou: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Xuan Song: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Kaiqi Nie: Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Chen Liu: Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Jiaou Wang: Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Huixia Yang: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Liwei Liu: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Teng Zhang: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Yeliang Wang: MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/physchem3010002
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3, no. 1
pp. 13 – 21

Abstract

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Graphene is one of the most well-known two-dimensional (2D) materials that has attracted significant interest due to its unique electrical and optical properties. Being a van der Waals substrate, the fabrication of few-layered graphene by stacking a pre-defined number of graphene monolayers is essential in the field. The thickness can influence the interface interaction and therefore tune the surface electronic properties. In the study, we demonstrate a bottom-up synthesis of pre-defined few-layer graphene on SiC substrate using the thermal decomposition method and carefully characterize its thickness by the non-damageable synchrotron-radiation-based X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (SR-XPS). By varying the photon energy, we acquire different probe depths, resulting in the different intensity ratios of graphene to SiC substrate, which is then used to estimate the thickness of the few-layer graphene. Our calculation demonstrates that the thermal decomposition method in the study can repeatedly fabricate graphene samples with expected thickness. We further compare the obtained few-layer graphene to the single-layer graphene and HOPG using the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique. Our work provides accurate methods for fabricating and characterizing pre-defined few-layer graphene, providing essential knowledge in future graphene-based thin film electronics.

Published in Physchem

ISSN: 2673-7167 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Physical and theoretical chemistry
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/physchem

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