Effect of Substrate Support on Dynamic Graphene/Metal Electrical Contacts

Abstract

Recent advances in graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) material synthesis and characterization have led to their use in emerging technologies, including flexible electronics. However, a major challenge is electrical contact stability, especially under mechanical straining or dynamic loading, which can be important for 2D material use in microelectromechanical systems. In this letter, we investigate the stability of dynamic electrical contacts at a graphene/metal interface using atomic force microscopy (AFM), under static conditions with variable normal loads and under sliding conditions with variable speeds. Our results demonstrate that contact resistance depends on the nature of the graphene support, specifically whether the graphene is free-standing or supported by a substrate, as well as on the contact load and sliding velocity. The results of the dynamic AFM experiments are corroborated by simulations, which show that the presence of a stiff substrate, increased load, and reduced sliding velocity lead to a more stable low-resistance contact.

Accessibility of the pores in highly porous alumina films synthesized via sequential infiltration synthesis

“…Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown on copper foil single-layer graphene (Graphenea Inc.) was transferred onto the QCM surface coated with porous alumina using a wet chemistry transfer method [24]. The graphene was covered with a spin-coated 200 nm thick poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film.…”

Synthesis of graphene via electrochemical exfoliation in different electrolytes for direct electrodeposition of a Cu/graphene composite coating

“…Graphene, a two-dimensional material consisting of monolayered hexagonally arrayed sp 2 -bonded carbon atoms, has already attracted a lot of attention in the eld of material science. 4,5 Various graphene/metal (or metal oxide) composite coatings have been synthesized for electrical contact or electrode materials [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] owing to an improvement in the electrical conductivity or specic surface area of the coating aer the incorporation of graphene. Obstructions to the fabrication of metal/graphene composite coatings mainly arise from two aspects.…”