Abstract
Graphene, as a single layer of $sp^2$-bonded carbon atoms packed into a 2D honeycomb crystal lattice, has attracted much attention due to its outstanding properties. In order to synthesize high quality graphene, transition metals, such as nickel and copper, have been widely employed as catalysts, which needs transfer to desired substrates for various applications. However, the transfer steps are not only complicated but also inevitably induce defects, impurities, wrinkles, and cracks of graphene. Furthermore, the direct synthesis of graphene on dielectric surfaces has still been a premature field for practical applications. Therefore, cost effective and concise methods for transfer-free graphene are essentially required for commercialization. Here, we report a facile transfer-free graphene synthesis method through nickel and carbon co-deposited layer. In order to fabricate 100 nm thick NiC layer on the top of $SiO_2/Si$ substrates, DC reactive magnetron sputtering was performed at a gas pressure of 2 mTorr with various Ar : $CH_4$ gas flow ratio and the 200 W DC input power was applied to a Ni target at room temperature. Then, the sample was annealed under 200 sccm Ar flow and pressure of 1 Torr at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 4 min employing a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) equipment. During the RTA process, the carbon atoms diffused through the NiC layer and deposited on both sides of the NiC layer to form graphene upon cooling. The remained NiC layer was removed by using a 0.5 M $FeCl_3$ aqueous solution, and graphene was then directly obtained on $SiO_2/Si$ without any transfer process. In order to confirm the quality of resulted graphene layer, Raman spectroscopy was implemented. Raman mapping revealed that the resulted graphene was at high quality with low degree of $sp^3$-type structural defects. Additionally, sheet resistance and transmittance of the produced graphene were analyzed by a four-point probe method and UV-vis spectroscopy, respectively. This facile non-transfer process would consequently facilitate the future graphene research and industrial applications.