Effective characterization of polymer residues on two-dimensional materials by Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

Large-area two-dimensional (2D) materials grown by chemical vapor deposition need to be transferred onto a target substrate for real applications. Poly(methyl methacrylate) as a supporting layer is widely used during the transfer process and removed after finishing it. However, it is a challenge to diminish the polymer layer completely. It is necessary to readily characterize the polymer residues on 2D materials to facilitate the removal process. Here, we report a method that characterizes the polymer residues on 2D materials by tracking the presence of G-band of amorphous carbons (a-Cs) in the Raman spectrum after forming carbonized a-Cs through thermal annealing. The 13C-graphene is employed to separate the Raman signal G-band between 12C-a-Cs and 13C-graphene in the Raman spectrum. The residence of the polymer residues is clearly confirmed by the different Raman signals of two different isotopes (12C and 13C) due to differences in mass. Our effective method recognizes that while the polymer residue is not easily removed on graphene, those on hexagonal boron nitride and molybdenum disulfide are almost diminished under optimum thermal annealing conditions. Our method will not only contribute to the development of a new transfer process, but also help to achieve a clean surface of 2D materials.