Cold-gas chemical vapor deposition to identify the key precursor for rapidly growing vertically-aligned single-wall and few-wall carbon nanotubes from pyrolyzed ethanol

Vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) were rapidly grown from ethanol and their chemistry has been studied using a "cold-gas" chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Ethanol vapor was preheated in a furnace, cooled down and then flowed over cobalt catalysts upon ribbon-shaped substrates at 800 °C, while keeping the gas unheated. CNTs were obtained from ethanol on a sub-micrometer scale without preheating, but on a millimeter scale with preheating at 1000 °C. Acetylene was predicted to be the direct precursor by gas chromatography and gas-phase kinetic simulation, and actually led to millimeter-tall VA-CNTs without preheating when fed with hydrogen and water. There was, however a difference in CNT structure, i.e. mainly few-wall tubes from pyrolyzed ethanol and mainly single-wall tubes for unheated acetylene, and the by-products from ethanol pyrolysis possibly caused this difference. The "cold-gas" CVD, in which the gas-phase and catalytic reactions are separately controlled, allowed us to further understand CNT growth. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical vapor deposition of nanocrystalline graphene directly on arbitrary high-temperature insulating substrates

Large area uniform nanocrystalline graphene is grown by chemical vapor deposition on arbitrary insulating substrates that can survive ∼1000°C. The as-synthesized graphene is nanocrystalline with a domain size in the order of ∼10 nm. The material possesses a transparency and conductivity similar to standard graphene fabricated by exfoliation or catalysis. A noncatalytic mechanism is proposed to explain the experimental phenomena. The developed technique is scalable and reproducible, compatible with the existing semiconductor technology, and thus can be very useful in nanoelectronic applications such as transparent electronics, nanoelectromechanical systems, as well as molecular electronics. © 2012 IEEE.

Noncatalytic chemical vapor deposition of graphene on high-temperature substrates for transparent electrodes

A noncatalytic chemical vapor deposition mechanism is proposed, where high precursor concentration, long deposition time, high temperature, and flat substrate are needed to grow large-area nanocrystalline graphene using hydrocarbon pyrolysis. The graphene is scalable, uniform, and with controlled thickness. It can be deposited on virtually any nonmetallic substrate that withstands ∼1000 °C. For typical examples, graphene grown directly on quartz and sapphire shows transmittance and conductivity similar to exfoliated or metal-catalyzed graphene, as evidenced by transmission spectroscopy and transport measurements. Raman spectroscopy confirms the sp 2-C structure. The model and results demonstrate a promising transfer-free technique for transparent electrode production. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Low partial pressure chemical vapor deposition of graphene on copper

A systematic study of the Cu-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition of graphene under extremely low partial pressure is carried out. A carbon precursor supply of just P CH4∼ 0.009 mbar during the deposition favors the formation of large-area uniform monolayer graphene verified by Raman spectra. A diluted HNO 3 solution is used to remove Cu before transferring graphene onto SiO 2/Si substrates or carbon grids. The graphene can be made suspended over a ∼12 μm distance, indicating its good mechanical properties. Electron transport measurements show the graphene sheet resistance of ∼0.6 kΩ/□ at zero gate voltage. The mobilities of electrons and holes are ∼1800 cm 2/Vs at 4.2 K and ∼1200 cm 2/Vs at room temperature. © 2011 IEEE.

Controllable chemical vapor deposition of large area uniform nanocrystalline graphene directly on silicon dioxide

Metal-catalyst-free chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of large area uniform nanocrystalline graphene on oxidized silicon substrates is demonstrated. The material grows slowly, allowing for thickness control down to monolayer graphene. The as-grown thin films are continuous with no observable pinholes, and are smooth and uniform across whole wafers, as inspected by optical-, scanning electron-, and atomic force microscopy. The sp 2 hybridized carbon structure is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Room temperature electrical measurements show ohmic behavior (sheet resistance similar to exfoliated graphene) and up to 13 of electric-field effect. The Hall mobility is ∼40 cm 2/Vs, which is an order of magnitude higher than previously reported values for nanocrystalline graphene. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and transport measurements indicate a graphene crystalline domain size ∼10 nm. The absence of transfer to another substrate allows avoidance of wrinkles, holes, and etching residues which are usually detrimental to device performance. This work provides a broader perspective of graphene CVD and shows a viable route toward applications involving transparent electrodes. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Direct chemical vapor deposition of large-area carbon thin films on gallium nitride for transparent electrodes: A first attempt

Direct formation of large-area carbon thin films on gallium nitride by chemical vapor deposition without metallic catalysts is demonstrated. A high flow of ammonia is used to stabilize the surface of the GaN (0001)/sapphire substrate during the deposition at 950°C. Various characterization methods verify that the synthesized thin films are largely sp 2 bonded, macroscopically uniform, and electrically conducting. The carbon thin films possess optical transparencies comparable to that of exfoliated graphene. This paper offers a viable route toward the use of carbon-based materials for future transparent electrodes in III-nitride optoelectronics, such as GaN-based light emitting diodes and laser diodes. © 1988-2012 IEEE.

The parameter space of graphene chemical vapor deposition on polycrystalline Cu

A systematic study of the parameter space of graphene chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on polycrystalline Cu foils is presented, aiming at a more fundamental process rationale in particular regarding the choice of carbon precursor and mitigation of Cu sublimation. CH 4 as precursor requires H 2 dilution and temperatures ≥1000 °C to keep the Cu surface reduced and yield a high-quality, complete monolayer graphene coverage. The H 2 atmosphere etches as-grown graphene; hence, maintaining a balanced CH 4/H 2 ratio is critical. Such balance is more easily achieved at low-pressure conditions, at which however Cu sublimation reaches deleterious levels. In contrast, C 6H 6 as precursor requires no reactive diluent and consistently gives similar graphene quality at 100-150 °C lower temperatures. The lower process temperature and more robust processing conditions allow the problem of Cu sublimation to be effectively addressed. Graphene formation is not inherently self-limited to a monolayer for any of the precursors. Rather, the higher the supplied carbon chemical potential, the higher the likelihood of film inhomogeneity and primary and secondary multilayer graphene nucleation. For the latter, domain boundaries of the inherently polycrystalline CVD graphene offer pathways for a continued carbon supply to the catalyst. Graphene formation is significantly affected by the Cu crystallography; i.e., the evolution of microstructure and texture of the catalyst template form an integral part of the CVD process. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Frame assisted H2O electrolysis induced H2 bubbling transfer of large area graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition on Cu

An improved technique for transferring large area graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition on copper is presented. It is based on mechanical separation of the graphene/copper by H2 bubbles during H2O electrolysis, which only takes a few tens of seconds while leaving the copper cathode intact. A semi-rigid plastic frame in combination with thin polymer layer span on graphene gives a convenient way of handling- and avoiding wrinkles and holes in graphene. Optical and electrical characterizations prove the graphene quality is better than that obtained by traditional wet etching transfer. This technique appears to be highly reproducible and cost efficient. © 2013 American Institute of Physics.

Near-field characterization of chemical vapor deposition graphene in the microwave regime

Near-field measurements were performed at X-band frequencies for graphene on copper microstrip transmission lines. An improvement in radiation of 0.88 dB at 10.2 GHz is exhibited from the monolayer graphene antenna which has dc sheet resistivity of 985 Ω/sq. Emission characteristics were validated via ab initio simulations and compared to empirical findings of geometrically comparable copper patches. This study contributes to the current knowledge of the electronic properties of graphene. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Growth of III-V nanowires and nanowire heterostructures by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have investigated the structural and optical properties of III-V nanowires, and axial and radial nanowire heterostructures, fabricated by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. In addition to binary nanowires, such as GaAs, InAs, and InP, we have demonstrated ternary InGaAs and AlGaAs nanowires. Core-shell nanowires consisting of GaAs cores with AlGaAs shells, and core-multishell nanowires with alternating shells of AlGaAs and GaAs, exhibit strong photoluminescence. Axial segments of InGaAs have been incorporated within GaAs nanowires to form GaAs/InGaAs nanowire superlattices. We have developed a two-temperature growth procedure to optimize nanowire morphology. An initial high temperature step promotes nucleation and epitaxial growth of straight (111)B-oriented nanowires. Lower temperatures are employed subsequently, to minimise radial growth. © 2007 IEEE.

Growth of GaAs/InAs vertical nanowires on GaAs (111)B by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The growth mechanism and properties of GaAs/InAs nanowires prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition are investigated. Vertical InAs nanowires on GaAs (111)B substrates are successfully grown despite the large lattice mismatch (-7.2%). The crystallographic perfection of InAs nanowires is confirmed by hexagonal or triangular cross section. An interesting L-shaping of GaAs/InAs heterostructure nanowire which could be useful for novel device application is observed. © 2005 IEEE.

Diameter and wall number control of carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition

We analyze the relationship between the average wall number (N) and the diameter (d) for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by chemical vapour deposition. It is found that N depends linearly on d for diameters in the range of 2.5-10 nm, while single wall nanotubes predominate for diameters under about 2.1 nm. The linear relationship is found to depend somewhat on the growth conditions. It is also verified that the mean diameter depends on the diameter of the originating catalyst nanoparticle, and thus on the initial catalyst thickness where a thin film catalyst is used. This simplifies the characterisation of CNTs by electron microscopy. We also find a linear relationship between nanotube diameter and initial catalyst film thickness. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.