Mapping nanoscale carrier confinement in polycrystalline graphene by terahertz spectroscopy.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) can be used to map spatial variations in electrical properties such as sheet conductivity, carrier density, and carrier mobility in graphene. Here, we consider wafer-scale graphene grown on germanium by chemical vapor deposition with non-uniformities and small domains due to reconstructions of the substrate during growth. The THz conductivity spectrum matches the predictions of the phenomenological Drude-Smith model for conductors with non-isotropic scattering caused by backscattering from boundaries and line defects. We compare the charge carrier mean free path determined by THz-TDS with the average defect distance assessed by Raman spectroscopy, and the grain boundary dimensions as determined by transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that even small angle orientation variations below 5° within graphene grains influence the scattering behavior, consistent with significant backscattering contributions from grain boundaries.

Chemical Vapor-Deposited Graphene on Ultraflat Copper Foils for van der Waals Hetero-Assembly.

The purity and morphology of the copper surface is important for the synthesis of high-quality, large-grained graphene by chemical vapor deposition. We find that atomically smooth copper foils-fabricated by physical vapor deposition and subsequent electroplating of copper on silicon wafer templates-exhibit strongly reduced surface roughness after the annealing of the copper catalyst, and correspondingly lower nucleation and defect density of the graphene film, when compared to commercial cold-rolled copper foils. The "ultrafoils"-ultraflat foils-facilitate easier dry pickup and encapsulation of graphene by hexagonal boron nitride, which we believe is due to the lower roughness of the catalyst surface promoting a conformal interface and subsequent stronger van der Waals adhesion between graphene and hexagonal boron nitride.

Long-term stability and tree-ring oxidation of WSe2 using phase-contrast AFM.

In this work, we use atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the long-term evolution of oxidative defects of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) in ambient conditions over a period of 75 months, which is the longest such study performed on any layered material. In particular, we find that phase-imaging AFM of mechanically exfoliated WSe2 crystals provides convenient, direct identification of exposed and covered step-edges, and together with topographic thickness measurements allows complete determination of the layer arrangement in a multilayer flake. Step-edges with low or no phase-contrast consistently exhibit long-term stability in ambient conditions, indicating that they are covered and effectively protected by above-lying WSe2 layers. On the contrary, step-edges with initial high phase-contrast are clearly degraded after medium- to long-term exposure to ambient conditions (up to six months), indicating that these are not covered by other layers. Similar behaviour was observed for MoTe2 and MoS2. The correlation between phase-contrast and step order was confirmed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. By comparing the phase-contrast line-traces in different locations and at different times, we find that long-term storage in ambient conditions led to evolution of a distinct ring-like pattern resembling the tree-lines arising from seasonal changes. Indeed the phase-contrast showed correlation with the average amount of sun-hours registered at the storage location. Storage in darkness slowed down the evolution of the tree-ring lines, in accordance with this explanation. Our work provides a unique dataset on long-term degradation of one of the most stable transition metal dichalcogenides, as well as insights into the conditions causing acceleration or inhibition of the degradation process.

Reference-free THz-TDS conductivity analysis of thin conducting films.

We present a reference-free method to determine electrical parameters of thin conducting films by steady state transmission-mode terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). We demonstrate that the frequency-dependent AC conductivity of graphene can be acquired by comparing the directly transmitted THz pulse with a transient internal reflection within the substrate which avoids the need for a standard reference scan. The DC sheet conductivity, scattering time, carrier density, mobility, and Fermi velocity of graphene are retrieved subsequently by fitting the AC conductivity with the Drude model. This reference-free method was investigated with two complementary THz setups: one commercial fibre-coupled THz spectrometer with fast scanning rate (0.2-1.5 THz) and one air-plasma based ultra-broadband THz spectrometer for greatly extended frequency range (2-10 THz). Certain propagation correction terms for more accurate retrieval of electrical parameters are discussed.

Wafer-scale graphene quality assessment using micro four-point probe mapping.

Micro four-point probes (M4PP) provide rapid and automated lithography-free transport properties of planar surfaces including two-dimensional materials. We perform sheet conductance wafer maps of graphene directly grown on a 100 mm diameter SiC wafer using a multiplexed seven-point probe with minor additional measurement time compared to a four-point probe. Comparing the results of three subprobes we find that compared to a single-probe result, our measurement yield increases from 72%-84% to 97%. The additional data allows for correlation analysis between adjacent subprobes, that must measure the same values in case the sample is uniform on the scale of the electrode pitch. We observe that the relative difference in measured sheet conductance between two adjacent subprobes increase in the transition between large and low conductance regions. We mapped sheet conductance of graphene as it changed over several weeks. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy conductivity maps both before and after M4PP mapping showed no significant change due to M4PP measurement, with both methods showing the same qualitative changes over time.

Graphene-Subgrain-Defined Oxidation of Copper.

The correlation between the crystal structure of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene and the crystal structure of the Cu growth substrate and their mutual effect on the oxidation of the underlying Cu are systematically explored. We report that natural oxygen or water intercalation along the graphene-Cu interface results in an orientation-dependent oxidation rate of the Cu surface, particularly noticeable for bicrystal graphene domains on the same copper grain, suggesting that the relative crystal orientation of subgrains determines the degree of Cu oxidation. Atomistic force field calculations support these observations, showing that graphene domains have preferential alignment with the Cu(111) with a smaller average height above the global Cu surface as compared to intermediate orientations, and that this is the origin of the heterogeneous oxidation rate of Cu. This work demonstrates that the natural oxidation resistance of Cu coated by graphene is highly dependent on the crystal orientation and lattice alignment of Cu and graphene, which is key information for engineering the interface configuration of the graphene-Cu system for specific functionalities in mechanical, anticorrosion, and electrical applications of CVD-grown graphene.

Wafer-Scale Synthesis of Graphene on Sapphire: Toward Fab-Compatible Graphene.

The adoption of graphene in electronics, optoelectronics, and photonics is hindered by the difficulty in obtaining high-quality material on technologically relevant substrates, over wafer-scale sizes, and with metal contamination levels compatible with industrial requirements. To date, the direct growth of graphene on insulating substrates has proved to be challenging, usually requiring metal-catalysts or yielding defective graphene. In this work, a metal-free approach implemented in commercially available reactors to obtain high-quality monolayer graphene on c-plane sapphire substrates via chemical vapor deposition is demonstrated. Low energy electron diffraction, low energy electron microscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy measurements identify the Al-rich reconstruction 31 × 31 R ± 9 ° of sapphire to be crucial for obtaining epitaxial graphene. Raman spectroscopy and electrical transport measurements reveal high-quality graphene with mobilities consistently above 2000 cm2 V-1 s-1 . The process is scaled up to 4 and 6 in. wafers sizes and metal contamination levels are retrieved to be within the limits for back-end-of-line integration. The growth process introduced here establishes a method for the synthesis of wafer-scale graphene films on a technologically viable basis.

A universal approach for the synthesis of two-dimensional binary compounds.

Only a few of the vast range of potential two-dimensional materials (2D) have been isolated or synthesised to date. Typically, 2D materials are discovered by mechanically exfoliating naturally occurring bulk crystals to produce atomically thin layers, after which a material-specific vapour synthesis method must be developed to grow interesting candidates in a scalable manner. Here we show a general approach for synthesising thin layers of two-dimensional binary compounds. We apply the method to obtain high quality, epitaxial MoS2 films, and extend the principle to the synthesis of a wide range of other materials-both well-known and never-before isolated-including transition metal sulphides, selenides, tellurides, and nitrides. This approach greatly simplifies the synthesis of currently known materials, and provides a general framework for synthesising both predicted and unexpected new 2D compounds.

Conductivity mapping of graphene on polymeric films by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

Fast inline characterization of the electrical properties of graphene on polymeric substrates is an essential requirement for quality control in industrial graphene production. Here we show that it is possible to measure the sheet conductivity of graphene on polymer films by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) when all internally reflected echoes in the substrate are taken into consideration. The conductivity measured by THz-TDS is comparable to values obtained from four point probe measurements. THz-TDS maps of 25x30 cm2 area graphene films were recorded and the DC conductivity and carrier scattering time were extracted from the measurements. Additionally, the THz-TDS conductivity maps highlight tears and holes in the graphene film, which are not easily visible by optical inspection.

Scalable and Tunable Periodic Graphene Nanohole Arrays for Mid-Infrared Plasmonics.

Despite its great potential for a wide variety of devices, especially mid-infrared biosensors and photodetectors, graphene plasmonics is still confined to academic research. A major reason is the fact that, so far, expensive and low-throughput lithography techniques are needed to fabricate graphene nanostructures. Here, we report for the first time a detailed experimental study on electrostatically tunable graphene nanohole array surfaces with periods down to 100 nm, showing clear plasmonic response in the range ∼1300-1600 cm-1, which can be fabricated by a scalable nanoimprint technique. Such large area plasmonic nanostructures are suitable for industrial applications, for example, surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) sensing, as they combine easy design, extreme field confinement, and the possibility to excite multiple plasmon modes enabling multiband sensing, a feature not readily available in nanoribbons or other localized resonant structures.

Electrical Homogeneity Mapping of Epitaxial Graphene on Silicon Carbide.

Epitaxial graphene is a promising route to wafer-scale production of electronic graphene devices. Chemical vapor deposition of graphene on silicon carbide offers epitaxial growth with layer control but is subject to significant spatial and wafer-to-wafer variability. We use terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and micro four-point probes to analyze the spatial variations of quasi-freestanding bilayer graphene grown on 4 in. silicon carbide (SiC) wafers and find significant variations in electrical properties across large regions, which are even reproduced across graphene on different SiC wafers cut from the same ingot. The dc sheet conductivity of epitaxial graphene was found to vary more than 1 order of magnitude across a 4 in. SiC wafer. To determine the origin of the variations, we compare different optical and scanning probe microscopies with the electrical measurements from nano- to millimeter scale and identify three distinct qualities of graphene, which can be attributed to the microstructure of the SiC surface.

Quality assessment of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy transmission and reflection modes for graphene conductivity mapping.

We present a comparative study of electrical measurements of graphene using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in transmission and reflection mode, and compare the measured sheet conductivity values to electrical van der Pauw measurements made independently in three different laboratories. Overall median conductivity variations of up to 15% were observed between laboratories, which are attributed mainly to the well-known temperature and humidity dependence of non-encapsulated graphene devices. We conclude that terahertz time-domain spectroscopy performed in either reflection mode or transmission modes are indeed very accurate methods for mapping electrical conductivity of graphene, and that both methods are interchangeable within measurement uncertainties. The conductivity obtained via terahertz time-domain spectroscopy were consistently in agreement with electrical van der Pauw measurements, while offering the additional advantages associated with contactless mapping, such as high throughput, no lithography requirement, and with the spatial mapping directly revealing the presence of any inhomogeneities or isolating defects. The confirmation of the accuracy of reflection-mode removes the requirement of a specialized THz-transparent substrate to accurately measure the conductivity.

Quantitative optical mapping of two-dimensional materials.

The pace of two-dimensional materials (2DM) research has been greatly accelerated by the ability to identify exfoliated thicknesses down to a monolayer from their optical contrast. Since this process requires time-consuming and error-prone manual assignment to avoid false-positives from image features with similar contrast, efforts towards fast and reliable automated assignments schemes is essential. We show that by modelling the expected 2DM contrast in digitally captured images, we can automatically identify candidate regions of 2DM. More importantly, we show a computationally-light machine vision strategy for eliminating false-positives from this set of 2DM candidates through the combined use of binary thresholding, opening and closing filters, and shape-analysis from edge detection. Calculation of data pyramids for arbitrarily high-resolution optical coverage maps of two-dimensional materials produced in this way allows the real-time presentation and processing of this image data in a zoomable interface, enabling large datasets to be explored and analysed with ease. The result is that a standard optical microscope with CCD camera can be used as an analysis tool able to accurately determine the coverage, residue/contamination concentration, and layer number for a wide range of presented 2DMs.

Freestanding and flexible graphene papers as bioelectrochemical cathode for selective and efficient CO2 conversion.

During microbial electrosynthesis (MES) driven CO2 reduction, cathode plays a vital role by donating electrons to microbe. Here, we exploited the advantage of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) paper as novel cathode material to enhance electron transfer between the cathode and microbe, which in turn facilitated CO2 reduction. The acetate production rate of Sporomusa ovata-driven MES reactors was 168.5 ± 22.4 mmol m-2 d-1 with RGO paper cathodes poised at -690 mV versus standard hydrogen electrode. This rate was approximately 8 fold faster than for carbon paper electrodes of the same dimension. The current density with RGO paper cathodes of 2580 ± 540 mA m-2 was increased 7 fold compared to carbon paper cathodes. This also corresponded to a better cathodic current response on their cyclic voltammetric curves. The coulombic efficiency for the electrons conversion into acetate was 90.7 ± 9.3% with RGO paper cathodes and 83.8 ± 4.2% with carbon paper cathodes, respectively. Furthermore, more intensive cell attachment was observed on RGO paper electrodes than on carbon paper electrodes with confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. These results highlight the potential of RGO paper as a promising cathode for MES from CO2.

Robust mapping of electrical properties of graphene from terahertz time-domain spectroscopy with timing jitter correction.

We demonstrate a method for reliably determining the electrical properties of graphene including the carrier scattering time and carrier drift mobility from terahertz time- domain spectroscopy measurements (THz-TDS). By comparing transients originating from directly transmitted pulses and the echoes from internal reflections in a substrate, we are able to extract electrical properties irrespective of random time delays between pulses emitted in a THz-TDS setup. If such time delays are not accounted for they can significantly influence the extracted properties of the material. The technique is useful for a robust determination of electrical properties from THz-TDS measurements and is compatible with substrate materials where transients from internal reflections are well-separated in time.

Catalyst Interface Engineering for Improved 2D Film Lift-Off and Transfer.

The mechanisms by which chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films can be released from a growth catalyst, such as widely used copper (Cu) foil, are systematically explored as a basis for an improved lift-off transfer. We show how intercalation processes allow the local Cu oxidation at the interface followed by selective oxide dissolution, which gently releases the 2D material (2DM) film. Interfacial composition change and selective dissolution can thereby be achieved in a single step or split into two individual process steps. We demonstrate that this method is not only highly versatile but also yields graphene and h-BN films of high quality regarding surface contamination, layer coherence, defects, and electronic properties, without requiring additional post-transfer annealing. We highlight how such transfers rely on targeted corrosion at the catalyst interface and discuss this in context of the wider CVD growth and 2DM transfer literature, thereby fostering an improved general understanding of widely used transfer processes, which is essential to numerous other applications.