Low-temperature synthesis of graphene on nickel foil by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition

Microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) was employed to synthesize high quality centimeter scale graphene film at low temperatures. Monolayer graphene was obtained by varying the gas mixing ratio of hydrogen and methane to 80:1. Using advantages of MPCVD, the synthesis temperature was decreased from 750 degrees C down to 450 degrees C. Optical microscopy and Raman mapping images exhibited that a large area monolayer graphene was synthesized regardless of the temperatures. Since the overall transparency of 89% and low sheet resistances ranging from 590 to 1855 Omega/sq of graphene films were achieved at considerably low synthesis temperatures, MPCVD can be adopted in manufacturing future large-area electronic devices based on graphene film. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3605560]