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Real-time observation of epitaxial graphene domain reorientation

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7880· OSTI ID:1235318
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Graphene films grown by vapour deposition tend to be polycrystalline due to the nucleation and growth of islands with different in-plane orientations. Here, using low-energy electron microscopy, we find that micron-sized graphene islands on Ir(111) rotate to a preferred orientation during thermal annealing. We observe three alignment mechanisms: the simultaneous growth of aligned domains and dissolution of rotated domains, that is, ‘ripening’; domain boundary motion within islands; and continuous lattice rotation of entire domains. By measuring the relative growth velocity of domains during ripening, we estimate that the driving force for alignment is on the order of 0.1 meV per C atom and increases with rotation angle. A simple model of the orientation-dependent energy associated with the moiré corrugation of the graphene sheet due to local variations in the graphene–substrate interaction reproduces the results. This study suggests new strategies for improving the van der Waals epitaxy of 2D materials.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1235318
Report Number(s):
SAND--2015-2564J; 579878
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 6; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (8)

Oxidation behavior of graphene-coated copper at intrinsic graphene defects of different origins journal November 2017
Formation Mechanism, Growth Kinetics, and Stability Limits of Graphene Adlayers in Metal-Catalyzed CVD Growth journal May 2018
Effect of Near‐Surface Dopants on the Epitaxial Growth of h‐BN on Metal Surfaces journal April 2019
Low-temperature deposition of multilayer graphene with continuous morphology and few defects journal November 2019
Temperature effect on the nucleation of graphene on Cu (111) journal January 2018
Tension-controlled single-crystallization of copper foils for roll-to-roll synthesis of high-quality graphene films journal February 2018
Polar edges and their consequences for the structure and shape of hBN islands journal April 2019
Basic Concepts and Recent Advances of Crystallographic Orientation Determination of Graphene by Raman Spectroscopy journal September 2018

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