Larger defect-free graphene layers produced

Irig and ESRF recently attracted the attention of the global nanoelectronics community when they produced defect-free single-crystal graphene layers measuring several square millimeters. The tiny layers are a million times larger than the square micron commonly obtained until now! The researchers did it by growing the 2D material on liquid copper at 1,100 °C rather than on solid copper. Combining the reflection and diffraction measurements of synchrotron X-ray imaging, Raman spectroscopy, and optical microscopy, they were able to monitor and control the formation of the graphene crystals in real time. The layers obtained are as good as exfoliated graphene sheets, but they do degrade as the liquid copper solidifies, and must be separated before the substrate cools. The research was conducted under EU project DirectSepa, which has been running for a year now.

Contacts: gilles.renaud@cea.fr; maciej.jankowski@esrf.fr
Learn more about DirectSepa: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/951943/fr and https://www.esrf.fr/home/news/spotlight/content-news/spotlight/spotlight392.html