Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen
TT 39: Graphene: Growth & Intercalation (jointly with O, HL)
TT 39.10: Talk
Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 12:45–13:00, MA 041
Fingerprinting graphene: self-assembly by breaking the rules of surface science — •Samuel Grandthyll1, Stefan Gsell2, Michael Weinl2, Matthias Schreck2, Karin Jacobs1, and Frank Müller1 — 1Saarland University, Experimental Physics, 66041 Saarbruecken, Germany — 2University of Augsburg, Experimental Physics 4, 86135 Augsburg, Germany
Epitaxial graphene is expected to be the only synthesis route to obtain large-area sheets of this silicon substitute for the engineering of future nano electronic devices on an industrial scale. So far, there are different recipes to obtain epitaxial graphene, using either intrinsic carbon, as released by the selective desorption of silicon from a SiC surface, or using extrinsic carbon, as via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of simple hydrocarbons on transition metal surfaces. In addition, even ex-situ deposition of liquid precursors (LPD) provides well-ordered graphene monolayers. In order to explore the limits of self-assembly in LPD synthesis, we show that graphene formation on transition metal surfaces is an extraordinarily robust mechanism that also works when carbon is provided in the maximal undefined way, namely by using a human fingerprint as a precursor. Our results show that ``fingerprinting'' graphene provides well-ordered monolayers of the same quality as in case of using ultrapure synthetic single precursors. The unique directedness of the self-assembly process of graphene on transition metals by liquid precursor deposition therefore offers a simple synthesis route for epitaxial graphene [1].
[1] F. Müller et al., Langmuir 30 (2014), 6114-6119