Kinetic study of graphene growth: Temperature perspective on growth rate and film thickness by chemical vapor deposition

We studied graphene growth kinetics from a temperature perspective, particularly the influence on growth rate, nucleation density and film thickness, in the temperature range of 900-1050 degrees C. The activation energy for graphene growth on Cu is similar to 2.74 eV. Additionally, bilayer graphene is obtained at 950 degrees C. Statistics results of the rotation angle suggest that over 75% of the bilayers are twisted graphene while the rest are Bernal (AB)-stacked. Our results provide insight into the optimization of CVD graphene growth on Cu and are beneficial for the development of novel graphene-based electronic devices with tunable characteristics. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.