Investigation of structural and electronic properties of epitaxial graphene on 3C–SiC(100)/Si(100) substrates

Abstract

Noelle Gogneau,1 Amira Ben Gouider Trabelsi,2 Mathieu G Silly,3 Mohamed Ridene,1 Marc Portail,4 Adrien Michon,4 Mehrezi Oueslati,2 Rachid Belkhou,3 Fausto Sirotti,3 Abdelkarim Ouerghi1 1Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Marcoussis, France; 2Unité des Nanomatériaux et Photonique, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar Campus Universitaire, Tunis, Tunisia; 3Synchrotron-SOLEIL, Saint-Aubin, BP48, F91192 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France; 4Centre de Recherche sur l'HétéroEpitaxie et Ses Application, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Valbonne, France Abstract: Graphene has been intensively studied in recent years in order to take advantage of its unique properties. Its synthesis on SiC substrates by solid-state graphitization appears a suitable option for graphene-based electronics. However, before developing devices based on epitaxial graphene, it is desirable to understand and finely control the synthesis of material with the most promising properties. To achieve these prerequisites, many studies are being conducted on various SiC substrates. Here, we review 3C–SiC(100) epilayers grown by chemical vapor deposition on Si(100) substrates for producing graphene by solid state graphitization under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. Based on various characterization techniques, the structural and electrical properties of epitaxial graphene layer grown on 3C–SiC(100)/Si(100) are discussed. We establish that epitaxial graphene presents properties similar to those obtained using hexagonal SiC substrates, with the advantage of being compatible with current Si-processing technology. Keywords: epitaxial graphene, electronic properties, structural properties, silicon carbide