Preparation and characterization of Ni(111)/graphene/Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}(111) heterostructures

Journal Article · Tue May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4805042· OSTI ID:22162935

Dahal, Arjun; Coy-Diaz, Horacio; Addou, Rafik; Lallo, James; Batzill, Matthias ^[1]; Sutter, Eli ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 (United States)
2. Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States)

Integration of graphene with other materials by direct growth, i.e., not using mechanical transfer procedures, is investigated on the example of metal/graphene/dielectric heterostructures. Such structures may become useful in spintronics applications using graphene as a spin-filter. Here, we systematically discuss the optimization of synthesis procedures for every layer of the heterostructure and characterize the material by imaging and diffraction methods. 300 nm thick contiguous (111) Ni-films are grown by physical vapor deposition on YSZ(111) or Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) substrates. Subsequently, chemical vapor deposition growth of graphene in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) is compared to tube-furnace synthesis. Only under UHV conditions, monolayer graphene in registry with Ni(111) has been obtained. In the tube furnace, mono- and bilayer graphene is obtained at growth temperatures of {approx}800 Degree-Sign C, while at 900 Degree-Sign C, non-uniform thick graphene multilayers are formed. Y{sub 2}O{sub 3} films grown by reactive molecular beam epitaxy in UHV covers the graphene/Ni(111) surface uniformly. Annealing to 500 Degree-Sign C results in crystallization of the yttria with a (111) surface orientation.

• OSTI ID: 22162935
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 113, Issue 19; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
ANNEALING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
CRYSTAL GROWTH
CRYSTALLIZATION
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
DIFFRACTION METHODS
GRAPHENE
LAYERS
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
NICKEL
ORIENTATION
PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
PRESSURE RANGE MICRO PA
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
SYNTHESIS
THIN FILMS
YTTRIUM OXIDES