title: Near room-temperature synthesis of transfer-free graphene films.
abstract: Large-area graphene films are best synthesized via chemical vapour and/or solid deposition methods at elevated temperatures (~1,000 °C) on polycrystalline metal surfaces and later transferred onto other substrates for device applications. Here we report a new method for the synthesis of graphene films directly on SiO(2)/Si substrates, even plastics and glass at close to room temperature (25-160 °C). In contrast to other approaches, where graphene is deposited on top of a metal substrate, our method invokes diffusion of carbon through a diffusion couple made up of carbon-nickel/substrate to form graphene underneath the nickel film at the nickel-substrate interface. The resulting graphene layers exhibit tunable structural and optoelectronic properties by nickel grain boundary engineering and show micrometre-sized grains on SiO(2) surfaces and nanometre-sized grains on plastic and glass surfaces. The ability to synthesize graphene directly on non-conducting substrates at low temperatures opens up new possibilities for the fabrication of multiple nanoelectronic devices.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Advanced Materials Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jinsung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Jae Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Jae-Kyung
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Soon-Dong
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Heungseok
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Go
authors.forename: Sung Youb
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kibog
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sung-Dae
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Woon
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Euijoon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Suneel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kodambaka
authors.forename: Soon-Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kwon