Facile technique for the removal of metal contamination from graphene

Wells, G.H.; Hunt, M.R.C.; Hopf, T; Vassilevski, K.V.; Escobedo-Cousin, E.; Horsfall, A.B.; Goss, J.P.; O'Neill, A.

Abstract

Metal contamination deposited on few-layer graphene (3 ± 1 monolayers) grown on SiC(0001) was successfully removed from the surface, using low cost adhesive tape. More than 99% of deposited silver contamination was removed from the surface via peeling, causing minimal damage to the graphene. A small change in the adhesion of graphene to the SiC(0001) substrate was indicated by changes observed in pleat defects on the surface; however, atomic resolution images show the graphene lattice remains pristine. Thin layers of contamination deposited via an electron gun during Auger electron spectroscopy/low energy electron diffraction measurements were also found to be removable by this technique. This contamination showed similarities to “roughened” graphene previously reported in the literature.

Citation

Wells, G., Hunt, M., Hopf, T., Vassilevski, K., Escobedo-Cousin, E., Horsfall, A., …O'Neill, A. (2015). Facile technique for the removal of metal contamination from graphene. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B, 33(5), Article 051802. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4928422

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 24, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Aug 11, 2015
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 13, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 10, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B
• Print ISSN: 2166-2746
• Electronic ISSN: 2166-2754
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: 051802
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4928422
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1401481