Two types of interfaces can be formed between metals and graphene depending on the strength of the metal-graphene interaction: weak (metal physisorption) and strong (metal chemisorption) interfaces. “Physisorption” interfaces (e.g., with Al, Ag, Cu, Ir, Pt and Au) are characterized by a larger metal-carbon distance (>3 Å) with some charge transfer between metal and graphene (i.e. doping of graphene) that maintains its overall π-band dispersion. “Chemisorption” interfaces (e.g. with Ni, Co, Pd, and Ti) are characterized by a smaller metal-carbon distance (<2.5 Å) and strong orbital hybridization between metal-d and carbon-pz orbitals, resulting in the destruction of the graphene’s π-band dispersion around the Dirac point. Till now, only a small fraction of all available metals has been used as electrode materials for carbon-based devices due to metal-graphene interface debonding problems. The issue therefore is to keep graphene’s intrinsic π bandstructure by using weakly interacting metals while enhancing the interface stability.

Recent developments in graphene electronics have stimulated an interest in other two dimensional materials such as hexagonal boron nitride (BN) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂). In contrast to graphene, BN and MoS₂ possess appreciable band gap and may form good interfaces with graphene, which opens up exciting opportunities for development of novel nanoelectronic devices. For practical applications, it is important to understand the effect of defects, which appear during growth and processing, on resulting electronic properties. The defects in graphene, BN, MoS₂ and their heterostructures have been investigated by first-principles density functional theory. Their effect on electronic properties including density of states and simulated STM images will be discussed.

References:

(1) E. I. Rashba, Phys. Rev. B, 62, 16267 (2000)

(2) W. Han et al, Phys. Rev. Lett., 105, 167202 (2010)

Bi-layer graphene synthesis by chemical vapor deposition is of importance for field effect devices because the band gap can be tuned in bi-layer graphene by an applied electric field. Here, we demonstrate that bi-layer graphene can be synthesized above 650^oC by chemical vapor deposition on thin Ni(111) films grown on YSZ(111) substrates in ultra high vacuum (UHV). We characterize the bi-layer graphene growth by low energy electron microscopy (LEEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Below 600 ^oC graphene grows in registry with the Ni(111) lattice and no second layer graphene is formed upon cooling. At 650 ^oC rotationally misaligned graphene domains are formed on Ni(111) and we observe second layer graphene to grow by carbon-segregation under those rotated monolayer graphene domains. The difference in second layer graphene nucleation and growth is explained by the graphene-Ni interaction, which is much stronger for graphene in registry with the substrate than for rotated graphene. The segregated second layer graphene sheet is in registry with the Ni(111) substrate and this suppresses further carbon-segregation, effectively self limiting graphene formation to two layers.

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of graphene on Cu substrates uniquely allows for growth of uniform monolayer graphene and is a promising route for its scalable production for many industrial applications due to low cost. The growth is a purely surface driven process, due to carbon’s low solubility in the Cu substrate, and relies on the Cu surface catalytically decomposing a carbon precursor (methane). As the growth of graphene proceeds across the surface, the reactivity of the Cu is passivated by the graphene, making the growth self-limiting to monolayer coverage. Research interest on the control of nucleation is intensifying, as the polycrystalline character of the graphene films can limit mobility, thermal conduction, and mechanical strength via grain boundaries.

In this paper, we study the nucleation dependencies of graphene at ambient pressure CVD in the context of surface nucleation theory. At low methane partial pressures, the concentration of carbon on the surface on the copper is low and carbon clusters cannot grow to a critical size for nucleation. As the partial pressure is increased, the methane partial pressure reaches a critical value and nucleation occurs. Tracking the critical pressure as a function of temperature from 880 to 1075⁰ C, we have determined the formation energy of the critical graphene nucleus to be ~1.5 eV/carbon atom, via the relation c_nuc~exp(-E_form/k_BT). Additionally, we have found that the nucleation density of the graphene varies by 5 orders of magnitude over this temperature range at the critical methane concentration. The results are described under the desorption controlled regime of surface cluster nucleation.

Growths near the critical methane concentration yield hexagonal growing graphene domains characteristic of attachment limited kinetics, while at higher rates yield other growth shapes. Characterization by Raman Spectroscopy has been used to identify defects in the graphene layers. We find that the Raman defect band (D-Band) scales with the root of the nucleation density, indicating the majority of defects are located at the domain boundaries and the D-band intensity scales with the distance between them. Electrical mobility measurements show nearly constant values in samples across the range of temperatures indicating other limiting factors besides internal defects. Growths at 900⁰ C yield μ >1000 cm²/Vs, ON/OFF ratio ~10, and Raman D/G ratio <.1, demonstrating high quality of growth even at relatively low temperatures.

With spin polarized low energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM) we studied thickness dependent spin reorientation transition on this system and compare with Co/Ir(111) without graphene. Monitoring the spin orientation in three dimensions while increasing the film thicknes by one ML at a time, we find that the presence of graphene on the film at least doubles the thickness at which the spin reorientation from out-of-plane to in-plane occurs from 6ML Co to transition to 12ML-13ML at 300°C and to between 14ML and 20ML at room temperature.

We attribute the significant contribution of the graphene/Cobalt interface to the magnetic anisotropy energy to a strong hybridization of graphene with Cobalt in directional bonds.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, by the French ANR contract ANR-2010-BLAN-1019-NMGEM and by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.