Self-limited growth of large-area monolayer graphene films by low pressure chemical vapor deposition for graphene-based field effect transistors

During the last decade, fabrication of high-quality graphene films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for nanoelectronics and optoelectronic applications has attracted increasing attention. However, processing of large-area monolayer and defect-free graphene films is still challenging. In this work, we have studied the effect of processing conditions on the self-limited growth of graphene monolayers on copper foils during low pressure CVD both experimentally and theoretically based on thermokinetics and kinetics of Langmuir adsorption. The effect of copper pre-treatment, growth time, and carbon potential of the atmosphere (indicated by the methane-to-hydrogen gas ratio, r) on the quality of graphene nanosheets (number of layers, surface roughness and the lateral size) were studied. Microscopic studies show that careful pre-treatment of the copper foil by electropolishing provides a suitable condition for the self-limited growth of graphene with minimum surface roughness and defects. Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy determine that the number of graphene sheets decreases with increasing the carbon potential while smother surfaces are attained. Large-area monolayer graphene films are obtained at relatively high carbon potential (r=1) and controlled growth time (10 min) at 1000 °C. Measurement of the electrical response of the prepared monolayer graphene films on SiO2 (300 nm)/Si substrates in a field effect transistor (FET) device shows a high mobility of 2780 cm2 V−1 s−1. Interestingly, the device exhibits p-type semiconducting behavior with the Dirac point at a gate voltage of 25 V. The finding show a great promise for graphene-based FET devices for future nanoelectronics.