Method of forming graphene on a surface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9327982-B2
Application number	US-201313785081-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 5, 2013
Priority date	Apr 7, 2011
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

Methods of forming a graphene material on a surface are presented. A metal material is disposed on a material substrate or material layer and is infused with carbon, for example, by exposing the metal to a carbon-containing vapor. The carbon-containing metal material is annealed to cause graphene to precipitate onto the bottom of the metal material to form a graphene layer between the metal material and the material substrate/material layer and also onto the top and/or sides of the metal material. Graphene material is removed from the top and sides of the metal material and then the metal material is removed, leaving only the graphene layer that was formed on the bottom of the metal material. In some cases graphene material that formed on one or more side of the sides of the metal material is not removed so that a vertical graphene material layer is formed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for forming a vertical graphene material structure on a substrate surface, comprising the steps of:
forming a substrate;
depositing a carbon or a carbon-containing material (CCCM) layer on the surface of the substrate;
depositing a patterned metal material layer of a patterned metal material on the CCCM layer to form a CCCM/patterned metal material layer structure, the patterned metal material layer having a bottom surface in contact with the CCCM and further having top and side surfaces not in contact with the CCCM;
applying a heating/cooling cycle to the CCCM/patterned metal material layer structure to diffuse carbon from the CCCM into the patterned metal material to form a carbon-containing patterned metal material layer, the CCCM being wholly or partially consumed during the heating/cooling cycle;
cooling the carbon-containing patterned metal material layer to precipitate carbon out of the carbon-containing metal material layer to form a first graphene material (GM) on the bottom surface of the carbon-containing patterned metal material layer adjacent to the substrate and to form a second graphene material (GM 2 ) on a top surface and at least one side of the carbon-containing patterned metal material layer;
removing the carbon-containing metal material layer without removing the GM; and
removing any remaining CCCM layer not consumed during the heating/cooling cycle;
wherein the GM remains on the surface of the substrate; and
removing the GM 2 from the top surface of the carbon-containing patterned metal material layer but not removing the GM 2 from the least one side of the metal material layer;
wherein the GM 2 that is not removed comprises the vertical graphene material structure.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of silicon, sapphire, silicon-on-insulator, quartz, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, indium phosphide, and cadmium telluride.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal material is selected based on one of a solubility limit of carbon in the metal material and a diffusion characteristic of carbon in the metal material.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal material comprises one of copper, nickel, ruthenium, cobalt, iron, and zinc.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal material layer is a nanoparticle metal material layer.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the heating/cooling cycle is a rapid thermal anneal.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein forming the substrate further comprises depositing a material layer on a top surface of the substrate to provide the substrate surface, before deposition of the metal material.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the material layer comprises one of aluminum oxide, boron nitride, silicon nitride, silicon oxide, hafnium oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum gallium nitride, gallium nitride, aluminum gallium arsenide, indium gallium arsenide, cadmium telluride, organic light emitting diode material, material as substrate for touch screen, thin film of photovoltaic material, thin film of material for display, barrier metal, and titanium nitride.

Assignees

• Kub Francis J
• Anderson Travis
• Feygelson Boris N
• Us Navy

Inventors

• Kub Francis J
• Anderson Travis
• Feygelson Boris N

Classifications

• H10P76/405

  characterised by their composition, e.g. multilayer masks · CPC title

• H10P14/3406

  Carbon, e.g. diamond-like carbon · CPC title

• H10P14/20

  of semiconductor materials · CPC title

• H10W20/4462

  Carbon or carbon-containing materials, e.g. graphene · CPC title

• H10D64/411

  for FETs · CPC title