Synthesis of Graphene onto Semi-insulating Substrates Epitaxial Graphene on SIC and CVD Graphene on Sapphire

Abstract

Graphene applications in nanoelectronics are often limited by the necessity to have it on an insulating substrate. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene on metals is often affected by metal contaminants and it requires a not simple or easily automatable transfer process. Epitaxial graphene grown on silicon carbide (SiC) and CVD graphene on C-plane sapphire (Al2O3) represent a solution to this problem: graphene grown directly on the insulating substrate of interest, without the need to transfer it, resulting in a high quality and clean material. This chapter discusses the growth of graphene on SiC via thermal decomposition and monolayer graphene on sapphire via CVD. The strengths and limitations of both methods are also presented, focusing particularly on the recent developments in the scalable synthesis of graphene on sapphire for industrial applications.