Dry efficient cleaning of poly-methyl-methacrylate residues from graphene with high-density H{sub 2} and H{sub 2}-N{sub 2} plasmas

Journal Article · Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4931370· OSTI ID:22492712

Petit-Etienne, C.; Davydova, A. ^[1]; Ferrah, D.; Renault, O. ^[2]; Okuno, H. ^[3]; Kalita, D.; Bouchiat, V. ^[4]

---

1. Laboratoire des Technologies de la Microélectronique, CNRS-UJF, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble (France)
2. CEA, LETI, MINATEC, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble (France)
3. CEA, INAC/SP2M/LEMMA, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble (France)
4. Institut Néel, CNRS-UJF-INP, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)

Graphene is the first engineering electronic material, which is purely two-dimensional: it consists of two exposed sp{sup 2}-hybridized carbon surfaces and has no bulk. Therefore, surface effects such as contamination by adsorbed polymer residues have a critical influence on its electrical properties and can drastically hamper its widespread use in devices fabrication. These contaminants, originating from mandatory technological processes of graphene synthesis and transfer, also impact fundamental studies of the electronic and structural properties at the atomic scale. Therefore, graphene-based technology and research requires “soft” and selective surface cleaning techniques dedicated to limit or to suppress this surface contamination. Here, we show that a high-density H{sub 2} and H{sub 2}-N{sub 2} plasmas can be used to selectively remove polymeric residues from monolayer graphene without any damage on the graphene surface. The efficiency of this dry-cleaning process is evidenced unambiguously by a set of spectroscopic and microscopic methods, providing unprecedented insights on the cleaning mechanisms and highlighting the role of specific poly-methyl-methacrylate residues at the graphene interface. The plasma is shown to perform much better cleaning than solvents and has the advantage to be an industrially mature technology adapted to large area substrates. The process is transferable to other kinds of two-dimensional material and heterostructures.

• OSTI ID: 22492712
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
DENSITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
FABRICATION
GRAPHENE
HYDROGEN
INTERFACES
METHACRYLIC ACID ESTERS
PLASMA
POLYMERS
RESIDUES
SOLVENTS
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE CLEANING
SURFACE CONTAMINATION
SURFACES
SYNTHESIS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS