title: Interfacial bonding characteristics between graphene and dielectric substrates.
abstract: Achieving strong adhesion between graphene and SiO(x)/Si substrates is crucial to make reliable graphene based electronics and electro-optic devices. We report the enhanced adhesion energy by vacuum annealing and the quantification of graphene-SiO(x)/Si substrate adhesion energy by using the nano-scratch technique coupled with Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We found that the adhesion energy of as-transferred graphene on SiO(x)/Si substrates is ~2.978 J m(-2). By applying different annealing protocols of rapid thermal annealing and vacuum annealing, the adhesion energy of graphene-SiO(x)/Si is increased to 10.09 and 20.64 J m(-2), respectively. The increase in adhesion energy is due to the formation of chemical bonds between the graphene and SiO(x) at high temperatures. The XPS depth profiling confirms that C-O and C=O chemical bond formation occurs at the graphene/SiO(x) interface. These results could be adapted for graphene/Si nanoelectronics device fabrication and they open up a pathway towards producing reliable solid state devices.
authors.forename: Santanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Debrupa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lahiri
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Wonbong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D020527:Microscopy, Scanning Probe; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D013499:Surface Properties; D014173:Transistors, Electronic
chemical_list: D006108:Graphite; D012825:Silicon