title: Graphene synthesis via thermal polymerization of aromatic quinone molecules.
abstract: Graphene was synthesized from pentacenequinone molecules on a Cu(111) surface using a three-step thermal treatment process: (1) self-assembly of a single layer molecular film at 190 °C, (2) formation of covalent bonding between adjacent molecules at intermediate temperatures, (3) thermal dehydrogenation and in-plane carbon diffusion at 600 °C. Transformation of the surface conformation was monitored with bimodal atomic force microscopy at the atomic scale and was corroborated with core-level X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A strong C═O···H-C hydrogen bonding involving the quinone moiety plays a key role in graphene growth, whereas conventional pentacene simply desorbs from the substrate during the same process. The most significant achievement of this proposed technique is obtaining graphene a couple of hundred degrees lower than standard techniques. Intrinsic defects due to carbon deficiency and the defects intentionally introduced by the microscope tip were also investigated with atomic-scale imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Basel , Klingbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Baran
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eren
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marot
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meyer