Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition of Graphene Layers

Graphene is a two-dimensional sp2 layer material. Despite the short history in the empirical synthesis of the graphene layers, the academic/industrial unique features have brought highly significant interest in research and development related to graphene-related materials. In particular, the electrical and optical performances have been targeted towards pre-existing microelectronicand emerging nanoelectronic applications. The graphene synthesis relies on a variety of processing factors, such as temperature, pressure, and gas ratios involving H2, CH4, and Ar, in addition to the inherent selection of copper substrates. The current work places its emphasis on the role of experimental factors in growing graphene thin films. The thermally-grown graphene layers are characterized using physical/chemical analyses, i.e., four point resistance measurements, Raman spectroscopy, and UV-Visible spectrophotometry. Ultimately, an optimization strategy is proposed in growing high-quality graphene layers well-controlled through empirical factors.