(Invited) Electrical Control in the Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Graphene and Related Materials

Abstract

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is widely used for the efficient growth of low dimensional materials. Typically, the synthesis parameters such as gas flow rate, temperature, pressure etc. are being optimized in order to achieve desirable results such as high-quality materials. Up to now, gas phase electro-chemical reactions have not been widely considered in CVD. In this talk, our explorations of using applied voltages to control the CVD synthesis results will be presented. We have found that applying an electric field between the copper substrate and a counter electrode has significant impacts on the growth of graphene. Electrochemical effect and ionic collision effect are observed in different conditions. Switching electric field can also be used to twist the chirality of carbon nanotubes. It is anticipated that electrical control during CVD synthesis could open up new ways to assist the synthesis of low dimensional materials in the future.