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Title: Toward clean suspended CVD graphene

Journal Article · · RSC Advances
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA17360H· OSTI ID:1344290
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  1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

The application of suspended graphene as electron transparent supporting media in electron microscopy, vacuum electronics, and micromechanical devices requires the least destructive and maximally clean transfer from their original growth substrate to the target of interest. Here, we use thermally evaporated anthracene films as the sacrificial layer for graphene transfer onto an arbitrary substrate. We show that clean suspended graphene can be achieved via desorbing the anthracene layer at temperatures in the 100 °C to 150 °C range, followed by two sequential annealing steps for the final cleaning, using a Pt catalyst and activated carbon. The cleanliness of the suspended graphene membranes was analyzed employing the high surface sensitivity of low energy scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A quantitative comparison with two other commonly used transfer methods revealed the superiority of the anthracene approach to obtain a larger area of clean, suspended CVD graphene. Lastly, our graphene transfer method based on anthracene paves the way for integrating cleaner graphene in various types of complex devices, including the ones that are heat and humidity sensitive.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1344290
Journal Information:
RSC Advances, Vol. 6, Issue 87; ISSN 2046-2069
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 19 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Cleaning graphene: Comparing heat treatments in air and in vacuum: Cleaning graphene journal July 2017
Capacitive pressure sensing with suspended graphene–polymer heterostructure membranes journal January 2017