Dry-cleaning of graphene

Studies of the structural and electronic properties of graphene in its pristine state are hindered by hydrocarbon contamination on the surfaces. Also, in many applications, contamination reduces the performance of graphene. Contamination is introduced during sample preparation and is adsorbed also directly from air. Here, we report on the development of a simple dry-cleaning method for producing large atomically clean areas in free-standing graphene. The cleanness of graphene is proven using aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron spectroscopy. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.