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Nano Research 2018, 11(5): 2809-2820 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1911-x
Research Article | Issue | Published: 12 May 2018

In situ atomic-scale observation of monolayer graphene growth from SiC

Show Author's Information Kaihao Yu1,§,  Wen Zhao2,4,§,  Xing Wu1,5,§,  Jianing Zhuang4,  Xiaohui Hu1,6,  Qiubo Zhang1,  Jun Sun1,  Tao Xu1,  Yang Chai9,  Feng Ding2,3,4( ),  Litao Sun1,7,8( )
SEU-FEI Nano-Pico CenterKey Laboratory of MEMS of Ministry of EducationSchool of Electronic Science and EngineeringSoutheast UniversityNanjing210096China
Center for Multidimensional Carbon MaterialsInstitute for Basic Science, Ulsan689-798Republic of Korea
School of Materials Science and EngineeringUlsan National Institute of Science and TechnologyUlsan689-798Republic of Korea
Institute of Textiles and ClothingHong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong999077China
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multidimensional Information ProcessingDepartment of Electrical EngineeringEast China Normal UniversityShanghai200241China
College of Materials Science and EngineeringNanjing Tech UniversityNanjing210009China
Center for Advanced Carbon MaterialsSoutheast University and Jiangnan Graphene Research InstituteChangzhou213100China
Center for Advanced Materials and ManufactureJoint Research Institute of Southeast University and Monash UniversitySuzhou215123China
Department of Applied PhysicsThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong999077China

§ Kaihao Yu, Wen Zhao, and Xing Wu contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
graphene, epitaxial growth, transmission electron microscopy, in situ
Cite this article:
Yu K, Zhao W, Wu X, et al. In situ atomic-scale observation of monolayer graphene growth from SiC. Nano Research, 2018, 11(5): 2809-2820. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1911-x
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Because of its high compatibility with conventional microfabrication processing technology, epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on SiC shows exceptional promise for graphene-based electronics. However, to date, a detailed understanding of the transformation from three-layer SiC to monolayer graphene is still lacking. Here, we demonstrate the direct atomic-scale observation of EG growth on a SiC (1100) surface at 1, 000 ℃ by in situ transmission electron microscopy in combination with ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Our detailed analysis of the growth dynamics of monolayer graphene reveals that three SiC (1100) layers decompose successively to form one graphene layer. Sublimation of the first layer causes the formation of carbon clusters containing short chains and hexagonal rings, which can be considered as the nuclei for graphene growth. Decomposition of the second layer results in the appearance of new chains connecting to the as-formed clusters and the formation of a network with large pores. Finally, the carbon atoms released from the third layer lead to the disappearance of the chains and large pores in the network, resulting in a whole graphene layer. Our study presents a clear picture of the epitaxial growth of the monolayer graphene from SiC and provides valuable information forfuture developments in SiC-derived EG technology.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

In situ atomic-scale observation of monolayer graphene growth from SiC

Show Author's information Kaihao Yu1,§, Wen Zhao2,4,§, Xing Wu1,5,§, Jianing Zhuang4, Xiaohui Hu1,6, Qiubo Zhang1, Jun Sun1, Tao Xu1, Yang Chai9, Feng Ding2,3,4( ), Litao Sun1,7,8( )
SEU-FEI Nano-Pico CenterKey Laboratory of MEMS of Ministry of EducationSchool of Electronic Science and EngineeringSoutheast UniversityNanjing210096China
Center for Multidimensional Carbon MaterialsInstitute for Basic Science, Ulsan689-798Republic of Korea
School of Materials Science and EngineeringUlsan National Institute of Science and TechnologyUlsan689-798Republic of Korea
Institute of Textiles and ClothingHong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong999077China
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multidimensional Information ProcessingDepartment of Electrical EngineeringEast China Normal UniversityShanghai200241China
College of Materials Science and EngineeringNanjing Tech UniversityNanjing210009China
Center for Advanced Carbon MaterialsSoutheast University and Jiangnan Graphene Research InstituteChangzhou213100China
Center for Advanced Materials and ManufactureJoint Research Institute of Southeast University and Monash UniversitySuzhou215123China
Department of Applied PhysicsThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong999077China

§ Kaihao Yu, Wen Zhao, and Xing Wu contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Because of its high compatibility with conventional microfabrication processing technology, epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on SiC shows exceptional promise for graphene-based electronics. However, to date, a detailed understanding of the transformation from three-layer SiC to monolayer graphene is still lacking. Here, we demonstrate the direct atomic-scale observation of EG growth on a SiC (1100) surface at 1, 000 ℃ by in situ transmission electron microscopy in combination with ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Our detailed analysis of the growth dynamics of monolayer graphene reveals that three SiC (1100) layers decompose successively to form one graphene layer. Sublimation of the first layer causes the formation of carbon clusters containing short chains and hexagonal rings, which can be considered as the nuclei for graphene growth. Decomposition of the second layer results in the appearance of new chains connecting to the as-formed clusters and the formation of a network with large pores. Finally, the carbon atoms released from the third layer lead to the disappearance of the chains and large pores in the network, resulting in a whole graphene layer. Our study presents a clear picture of the epitaxial growth of the monolayer graphene from SiC and provides valuable information forfuture developments in SiC-derived EG technology.

Keywords: graphene, epitaxial growth, transmission electron microscopy, in situ

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 18 September 2017
Revised: 23 October 2017
Accepted: 03 November 2017
Published: 12 May 2018
Issue date: May 2018

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51420105003, 11525415, 11327901, 61274114, 11674052, and 11604047) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 2242016K41039, MTEC-2015M03, and NJ20150026) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20160694). W. Z. and F. D. acknowledge the support of Institute for Basic Science, Republic of Korea (No. IBS-R019-D1). X. W. would like to acknowledge support from the Projects of Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (No. 14DZ2260800).

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