An official website of the United States government
The unique two-dimensional structure and outstanding electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties of graphene have attracted the interest of scientists and engineers from various fields. The first step in translating the excellent properties of graphene into practical applications is the preparation of large area, continuous graphene films. Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) graphene has received increasing attention because it provides access to large-area, uniform, and continuous films of high quality. However, current CVD synthetic techniques utilize metal substrates (Cu or Ni) to catalyse the growth of graphene and post-growth transfer of the graphene film to a substrate of interest is critical for most applications such as electronics, photonics, and spintronics. Here we discuss recent advances in the transfer of as-grown CVD graphene to target substrates. The methods that afford CVD graphene on a target substrate are summarized under three categories: transfer with a support layer, transfer without a support layer, and direct growth on target substrates. At present the first two groups dominate the field and research efforts are directed towards refining the choice of the support layer. The support layer plays a vital role in the transfer process because it has direct contact with the atomically thin graphene surface, affecting its properties and determining the quality of the transferred graphene.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on June 28, 2026
Scalable Etch-Free Transfer of Low-Dimensional Materials from Metal Films to Diverse Substrates
Low-dimensional materials hold great promises for exploring emergent physical phenomena, nanoelectronics, and quantum technologies. Their synthesis often depends on catalytic metal films, from which the synthesized materials must be transferred to insulating substrates to enable device functionality and minimize interfacial interactions during quantum investigations. Conventional transfer methods, such as chemical etching or electrochemical delamination, degrade material quality, limit scalability, or prove incompatible with complex device architectures. Here, a scalable, etch-free transfer technique is presented, employing Field's metal (51% In, 32.5% Bi, and 16.5% Sn by weight) as a low-melting-point mechanical support to gently delaminate low-dimensional materials from metal films without causing damage. Anchoring the metal film during separation prevents tearing and preserves material integrity. As a proof of concept, atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are transferred from Au(111)/mica to dielectric substrates, including silicon dioxide (SiO_2) and single-crystalline lanthanum oxychloride (LaOCl). Comprehensive characterization confirms the preservation of structural and chemical integrity throughout the transfer process. Wafer-scale compatibility and device integration are demonstrated by fabricating GNR-based field-effect transistors (GNRFETs) that exhibit room-temperature switching with on/off current ratios exceeding 10^3. This method provides a scalable and versatile platform for integrating low-dimensional materials into advanced low-dimensional materials-based technologies.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2235143
- PAR ID:
- 10631567
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced materials interfaces
- ISSN:
- 2196-7350
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Nanohybrids represent a larger variety of functional materials consisting of one or more types of low‐dimensional semiconductor nanostructures, such as quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes, 2D atomic materials (graphene, transition‐metal dichalcogenides, etc.) interfaced with one another, and/or with conventional material matrices (bulks, films, polymers, etc.). Heterojunction interfaces are characteristic in nanohybrids and play a critical role facilitating synergistic coupling of constituent materials of different functionalities, resulting in excellent electronic, optoelectronic, and mechanical properties. Therefore, nanohybrids provide fresh opportunities for designs of optoelectronic devices of extraordinary performance in addition to the benefits of low cost, large abundance, flexibility, and light weight. Herein, some recent achievements in exploiting new optoelectronic nanohybrids and understanding the underlying physics toward high‐performance optoelectronic nanohybrids that are competitive in commercialization of various optoelectronic devices are highlighted. Using nanohybrid photodetectors as an example, the importance in controlling the heterojunction interfaces and multiscale controlling of optoelectronic process of light absorption, exciton dissociation, photocarrier transfer, and transport from atomic to device scales and how this control impacts the photodetector performance are revealed. The current status, remaining challenges, and future perspectives in optoelectronic nanohybrids are also discussed.more » « less
-
Abstract It is widely accepted that solid‐state membranes are indispensable media for the graphene process, particularly transfer procedures. But these membranes inevitably bring contaminations and residues to the transferred graphene and consequently compromise the material quality. This study reports a newly observed free‐standing graphene‐water membrane structure, which replaces the conventional solid‐state supporting media with liquid film to sustain the graphene integrity and continuity. Experimental observation, theoretical model, and molecular dynamics simulations consistently indicate that the high surface tension of pure water and its large contact angle with graphene are essential factors for forming such a membrane structure. More interestingly, water surface tension ensures the flatness of graphene layers and renders high transfer quality on many types of target substrates. This report enriches the understanding of the interactions on reduced dimensional material while rendering an alternative approach for scalable layered material processing with ensured quality for advanced manufacturing.more » « less
-
Abstract The demonstration of epitaxial thin film transfer has enormous potential for thin film devices free from the traditional substrate epitaxy limitations. However, large‐area continuous film transfer remains a challenge for the commonly reported polymer‐based transfer methods due to bending and cracking during transfer, especially for highly strained epitaxial thin films. In this work, a new epoxy‐based, rigid transfer method is used to transfer films from an SrTiO3(STO) growth substrate onto various new substrates, including those that will typically pose significant problems for epitaxy. An epitaxial multiferroic Bi3Fe2Mn2Ox(BFMO) layered supercell (LSC) material is selected as the thin film for this demonstration. The results of surface and structure studies show an order of magnitude increase in the continuous area of transferred films when compared to previous transfer methods. The magnetic properties of the BFMO LSC films are shown to be enhanced by the release of strain in this method, and ferromagnetic resonance is found with an exceptionally low Gilbert damping coefficient. The large‐area transfer of this highly strained complex oxide BFMO thin film presents enormous potential for the integration of many other multifunctional oxides onto new substrates for future magnetic sensors and memory devices.more » « less
-
Abstract Natural systems, synthetic materials, and devices almost always feature interphases that control the flow of mass and energy or stabilize interfaces between incompatible materials. With technologies transitioning to non‐planar and 3D mesoscale architectures, novel deposition methods for realizing ultrathin coatings and interphases are required. Polymer networks are of particular interest for their tunable chemical and physical properties combined with their structural integrity. Here, the electrodeposition of polymer networks (EPoN) is introduced as a general approach to uniformly coat non‐planar conductive materials. Conceptually, EPoN utilizes electrochemically activated crosslinkers as polymer end groups to confine their network formation exclusively to the material surface upon charge transfer, yielding a passivating and self‐limiting growth of conformal and uniform coatings with tunable submicron thickness on conductive materials. EPoN is found to result in thin functional films of various polymer backbones and side group chemistries as demonstrated for poly(ether) and poly(acrylamide) based polymers as solid electrolyte and thermally responsive interphases, respectively.more » « less
