We present a novel method for the direct metal-free growth of graphene on sapphire that yields high quality films comparable to that of graphene grown on SiC by sublimation. Graphene is synthesized on sapphire via the simple decomposition of methane at 1425-1600 °C. Film quality was found to be a strong function of growth temperature. The thickness, structure, interface characteristics, and electrical transport properties were characterized in order to understand the utility of this material for electronic devices. Graphene synthesized on sapphire is found to be strain relieved, with no evidence of an interfacial buffer layer. There is a strong correlation between the graphene structural quality and carrier mobility. Room temperature Hall effect mobility values were as high as 3000 cm(2)/(V s), while measurements at 2 K reached values of 10,500 cm(2)/(V s). These films also display evidence of the quantum Hall effect. Field effect transistors fabricated from this material had a typical current density of 200 mA/mm and transconductance of 40 mS/mm indicating that material performance may be comparable to graphene on SiC.

We report a direct correlation between carrier mobility and Raman topography of epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on silicon carbide (SiC). We show the Hall mobility of material on the Si-face of SiC [SiC(0001)] is not only highly dependent on thickness uniformity but also on monolayer s st tr ra ai in n uniformity. Only when both thickness and strain are uniform over a significant fraction (> 40%) of the device active area does the mobility exceed 1000 cm 2 /V-s. Additionally, we achieve high mobility epitaxial graphene (18,100 cm 2 /V-s at room temperature) on the C-face of SiC [SiC(000-1)] and show that carrier mobility depends strongly on the graphene layer stacking. These findings provide a means to rapidly estimate carrier mobility and provide a guide to achieve very high mobility in epitaxial graphene. Our results suggest that ultra-high mobilities (>50,000 cm 2 /V-s) are achievable via the controlled formation of uniform, rotationally faulted epitaxial graphene.The recent success of graphene transistor operation in the giga-hertz range has solidified the potential of this material for high speed electronic applications. 1,2 Realization of graphene technologies at commercial scales, however, necessitates large-area graphene production, as well as the ability to rapidly characterize its structural and electronic quality. Graphene films can be produced by mechanical exfoliation from bulk graphite, 3,4 reduction of graphite-oxide, 5,6 chemical vapor deposition on catalytic films, 7 or via Si-sublimation from bulk SiC substrates. 8 9, -10,11, 12 The last technique currently appears to hold the most promise for large-area electronic grade graphene, and already shows tremendous potential for high-frequency device technologies. 2 Nevertheless, precise control of the graphene electronic properties (i.e. mobility) over large areas is necessary to enable graphene-based technological applications. Realization of such control will come through an intimate understanding of the process-propertyperformance relationship and the role that graphene thickness, strain, and layer stacking plays in this relationship over very large areas up to full wafers. Of the characterization techniques used for layer thickness determination, 13 ,14,15, -16,17,18, 19 Raman spectroscopy is arguably the simplest and fastest, especially for exploring monolayer EG on SiC(0001) (referred to as EG Si )and EG layer stacking on SiC(000-1) (referred to as EG c ). [15][16][17][18][19] Characterization of EG via Raman spectroscopy requires fitting the 2D Raman peak. 15,16,20 Raman spectra of EG Si fit by one or four Lorentzian functions are characteristic of monolayer or bilayer graphene, respectively. 15 Figure 1a demonstrates layer thickness evaluation for monolayer and bilayer EG Si via Lorentzian fitting of the 2D Raman spectra. To further validate these thickness measurements, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed (Fig. 1b,c). The TEM micrographs in Fig.1b,c include a transition layer (Layer 0), which is in dire...

We report results from two-dimensional Raman spectroscopy studies of large-area epitaxial graphene grown on SiC. Our work reveals unexpectedly large variation in Raman peak position across the sample resulting from inhomogeneity in the strain of the graphene film, which we show to be correlated with physical topography by coupling Raman spectroscopy with atomic force microscopy.We report that essentially strain free graphene is possible even for epitaxial graphene.Graphene exhibits extraordinary electronic properties including an unusually high mobility of the charge carriers. 1 While significant progress toward understanding the properties of graphene has resulted from studying graphene flakes mechanically exfoliated from bulk graphite, 2 these small flakes (< 100 µm 2 ) are most suited for studying the fundamental science of graphene, and are not practical for the development of graphene-based technologies. Alternatively, the sublimation of silicon (Si) from silicon carbide (SiC) to form epitaxial graphene is a promising route for the production of wafer size graphene films. 3 -45678 9 However, rapid characterization and precise control of properties of epitaxial graphene over a wafer-size area are yet to be achieved. Micro-Raman spectroscopy is a rapid, highresolution optical characterization technique that yields important information on the thickness, the charge carrier density, and the strain of epitaxial graphene. 10,11,12,13 However, no studies of Raman topography, the two-dimensional mapping of Raman spectrum over large-area epitaxial graphene, have been carried out to date.