A graphite enclosure assisted synthesis of high-quality patterned graphene on 6H-SiC by ion implantation

Synthesis of high-quality graphene on insulating/semiconducting substrate is important in the development of future graphene-based electronic device technology. In this paper, an approach of ion implantation followed by annealing in a graphite enclosure was used to directly produce high-quality patterned graphene on 6H-SiC. Specifically, 5 keV argon ions were implanted in single-crystal 6H-SiC followed by thermal annealing in a graphite enclosure to synthesize graphene using the graphite enclosure as a carbon source. After annealing, carbon atoms, coming from graphite enclosure and SiC itself, migrate to the substrate surface and self-assemble into graphene. In contrast with present graphene production techniques, our approach requires a significantly lower temperature of similar to 1100 degrees C and avoids the use of a large amount of gases, hydrogen etching and transfer process. Moreover, in this approach, patterned graphene can be synthesized by precisely controlling the growth site. To understand the growth mechanism, a brief model based on the influence of ion implantation, heat preservation time and graphite enclosure was established. Our work has established a convenient and economical approach of graphene production and expects to spark more interest in graphene-based electronic devices. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper presents a method for synthesizing high-quality patterned graphene on 6H-SiC substrate using ion implantation and thermal annealing, which requires lower temperature and avoids the use of large amounts of gases compared to existing techniques. The approach enables precise control over growth sites for patterned graphene synthesis.