One-step epitaxial graphene grown on silicon carbide surface using “vanishing” mask

By Dean Williams on March 30, 2015

Graphene researchers Walt de Heer and Claire Berger and their colleagues at the joint Georgia Tech-CNRS Lab and CNRS-Institute Néel have demonstrated an original method for depositing epitaxial graphene on SiC using a silicon nitride mask. The mask decomposes and “vanishes” before graphitization is complete, leaving no unwanted resist residues.

The ideal crystalline structure of graphene. Image courtesy of AlexanderAlUS.

In their Fast Track Communication published in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics [1], the authors show that by using a mask it is possible to vary the number of graphene layers deposited across the SiC surface – an important step towards growth selectivity at the monolayer level, which could lead to developments in quantum metrology and electronics.

For more information on epitaxial graphene, see the Georgia Tech Epitaxial Graphene Lab website.

[1] Scalable control of graphene growth on 4H-SiC C-face using decomposing silicon nitride masks Renaud Puybaret et al 2015 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 48 152001

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