Epitaxial Graphene on SiC: A Review of Growth and Characterization

Abstract

This review is devoted to one of the most promising two-dimensional (2D) materials, graphene. Graphene can be prepared by different methods and the one discussed here is fabricated by the thermal decomposition of SiC. The aim of the paper is to overview the fabrication aspects, growth mechanisms, and structural and electronic properties of graphene on SiC and the means of their assessment. Starting from historical aspects, it is shown that the most optimal conditions resulting in a large area of one ML graphene comprise high temperature and argon ambience, which allow better controllability and reproducibility of the graphene quality. Elemental intercalation as a means to overcome the problem of substrate influence on graphene carrier mobility has been described. The most common characterization techniques used are low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM), angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) in different modes, Hall measurements, etc. The main results point to the applicability of graphene on SiC in quantum metrology, and the understanding of new physics and growth phenomena of 2D materials and devices.

Structure of graphene and its disorders: a review

“…However, a large number of defects, including point defects, line defects and adsorption of functional groups, which are formed during the oxidation, vigorous exfoliation and reduction processes are introduced into these assembled graphene films. Epitaxial growth on silicon carbide [306–308] or ruthenium [309] at high-temperatures in ultrahigh vacuum can provide high-quality graphene with a size as large as that of the substrate [310]. However, the produced graphene strongly interacts with the substrate, hindering fabrication of electrically isolated monolayer graphene.…”

Effect of Residual Gas Composition on Epitaxial Growth of Graphene on SiC

“…Among novel devices, the growth technique, together with SiC wafer preparation, stands at the beginning of whole manufacturing process. It is therefore a key to understand conditions under which reproducible high quality graphene can be reached [4,5]. The growth mechanisms has been studied both theoretically and experimentally.…”

Metal-dielectric transition in Sn-intercalated graphene on SiC(0001)

“…The buffer layer graphene used in this study was grown on 4H-SiC(0001) substrates by a welldeveloped furnace method [7]. Briefly, the SiC wafer is annealed and graphitized through slow Si sublimation in an inductively heated furnace filled with an atmosphere Ar gas.…”

“…Epitaxial graphene grown on SiC substrates by thermal decomposition has attracted a lot of research interest in recent years [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. As one of most promising methods of graphene fabrication, it is fully compatible with the modern semiconductor industrial standards, which means various graphene-based nanostructures and electronic/optoelectronic devices could be directly manufactured on a wafer-size graphene sample by lithography without being transferred onto other substrates [8][9][10][11][12].…”