CAREER: Understanding the Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Graphene: Science, Application and Education

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Technical: This project is to study growth of graphene on metal substrates such as nickel using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique and subsequent transfer of the graphene layers to diverse types of materials such as semiconductor, metal, and plastics. Graphene is the hexagonal arrangement of carbon atoms in a one-atom-thick sheet. While there has been an explosion of research activities on graphene over the past a few years, the success of future fundamental research and applications of graphene is critically depending upon the capability to obtain continuously large-area, single-crystalline graphene sheets with controlled number of layers on arbitrary substrates. This project aims to achieve this goal. The research activities of the project include two complementary routes: One involves the direct investigation on the CVD growth, via time-dependent in-situ Raman characterization. The second involves structural analysis on both the graphene and metal substrate to provide feedback information while various synthesis parameters are tuned. The intellectual merits of the proposed activities include: (1) understanding of the CVD growth mechanism of the graphene on metal substrates (2) identification of optimal routes for graphene synthesis, (3) study of the effect of various defects to the electronic properties and of the nickel-graphene interface phenomena.Non-technical: The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science with high technological relevance. If the large-area, single-crystalline graphene on insulating substrate is successful, tremendous opportunities will open up for the applications of graphene in electronics, solar cells, flexible displays, light emitting diodes. The project activities also offer an excellent opportunity for training of students in chemistry, material science, nanofabrication and electrical engineering. This work is expected to lead to a highly interdisciplinary and creative Ph.D. dissertation and learning experience for students from all levels to be educated in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Undergraduate students and high school students, including those from under-represented groups, will be recruited to participate in the proposed research. Investigations carried out in this research program will also serve as a basis for several topics for undergraduate and graduate courses.