Effect of temperature on low pressure chemical vapor deposition of graphene

Large area fabrication of graphene, as a leading two-dimensional material as well as an allotrope of carbon, is a challenging requirement prior to its preparation for applications. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is one of the most effective and promising methods for high-scale and high-quality synthesis of graphene. In this study, graphene layers were grown on copper (Cu) sheets using low-pressure CVD technique at 930 °C, 870 °C, and 760 °C. Raman spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Optical Microscopy (OM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) were employed in this study to investigate the effect of the process temperature on the structural properties, morphology, grain boundaries, continuity, purity, and number of layers. The results from analyses revealed that at higher temperatures, the continuity and quality of the layers and number of grain boundaries were higher and lower, respectively. In contrast, at lower temperatures, the nucleation and discontinuity of the deposited layers were relatively high. The surface roughness of the graphene sheets increased with a decrease in temperature.