Surface structure deduced differences of copper foil and film for graphene CVD growth

Graphene was synthesized on Cu foil and film by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with CH4 as carbon source. Electron backscattered scattering diffraction (EBSD) characterization demonstrates that the Cu foil surface after the H2-assisted pre-annealing was almost composed of Cu(1 0 0) crystal facet with larger grain size of ∼100 μm; meanwhile, the Cu film surface involved a variety of crystal facets of Cu(1 1 1), Cu(1 0 0), and Cu(1 1 0), with the relatively small grain size of ∼10 μm. The different surface structure led to the distinctive influences of the CH4 and H2 concentrations on the thickness and quality of as-grown graphene. Further data demonstrate that the Cu foil enabled more nucleation densities and faster growth rates at the initial growth stages than the Cu film. Our results are beneficial for understanding the relationship between the metal surface structure and graphene CVD growth.