Cleaning graphene: A first quantum/classical molecular dynamics approach
- LTM, CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes/CEA, 17 Avenue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble (France)
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
Graphene outstanding properties created a huge interest in the condensed matter community and unprecedented fundings at the international scale in the hope of application developments. Recently, there have been several reports of incomplete removal of the polymer resists used to transfer as-grown graphene from one substrate to another, resulting in altered graphene transport properties. Finding a large-scale solution to clean graphene from adsorbed residues is highly desirable and one promising possibility would be to use hydrogen plasmas. In this spirit, we couple here quantum and classical molecular dynamics simulations to explore the kinetic energy ranges required by atomic hydrogen to selectively etch a simple residue—a CH{sub 3} group—without irreversibly damaging the graphene. For incident energies in the 2–15 eV range, the CH{sub 3} radical can be etched by forming a volatile CH{sub 4} compound which leaves the surface, either in the CH{sub 4} form or breaking into CH{sub 3} + H fragments, without further defect formation. At this energy, adsorption of H atoms on graphene is possible and further annealing will be required to recover pristine graphene.
- OSTI ID:
- 22594534
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ADSORPTION
ANNEALING
CLEANING
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DEFECTS
EV RANGE 01-10
GRAPHENE
HYDROGEN
KINETIC ENERGY
METHANE
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS METHOD
PLASMA
POLYMERS
RESIDUES
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
TRANSPORT THEORY