High-Quality Few-Layer Graphene on Single-Crystalline SiC thin Film Grown on Affordable Wafer for Device Applications

• Main Authors: Norifumi Endoh, Shoji Akiyama, Keiichiro Tashima, Kento Suwa, Takamasa Kamogawa, Roki Kohama, Kazutoshi Funakubo, Shigeru Konishi, Hiroshi Mogi, Minoru Kawahara, Makoto Kawai, Yoshihiro Kubota, Takuo Ohkochi, Masato Kotsugi, Koji Horiba, Hiroshi Kumigashira, Maki Suemitsu, Issei Watanabe, Hirokazu Fukidome
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: Nanomaterials
• Subjects: epitaxial graphene; SiC; affordable; transistor; terahertz
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/2/392

Graphene is promising for next-generation devices. However, one of the primary challenges in realizing these devices is the scalable growth of high-quality few-layer graphene (FLG) on device-type wafers; it is difficult to do so while balancing both quality and affordability. High-quality graphene is grown on expensive SiC bulk crystals, while graphene on SiC thin films grown on Si substrates (GOS) exhibits low quality but affordable cost. We propose a new method for the growth of high-quality FLG on a new template named “hybrid SiC”. The hybrid SiC is produced by bonding a SiC bulk crystal with an affordable device-type wafer and subsequently peeling off the SiC bulk crystal to obtain a single-crystalline SiC thin film on the wafer. The quality of FLG on this hybrid SiC is comparable to that of FLG on SiC bulk crystals and much higher than of GOS. FLG on the hybrid SiC exhibited high carrier mobilities, comparable to those on SiC bulk crystals, as anticipated from the linear band dispersions. Transistors using FLG on the hybrid SiC showed the potential to operate in terahertz frequencies. The proposed method is suited for growing high-quality FLG on desired substrates with the aim of realizing graphene-based high-speed devices.