• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.490-490
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• 2011

Graphene, hexagonal network of carbon atoms forming a one-atom thick planar sheet, has been emerged as a fascinating material for future nanoelectronics. Huge attention has been captured by its extraordinary electronic properties, such as bipolar conductance, half integer quantum Hall effect at room temperature, ballistic transport over ${\sim}0.4{\mu}m$ length and extremely high carrier mobility at room temperature. Several approaches have been developed to produce graphene, such as micromechanical cleavage of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite using adhesive tape, chemical reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide, epitaxial growth of graphene on SiC and single crystalline metal substrate, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis. In particular, direct synthesis of graphene using metal catalytic substrate in CVD process provides a new way to large-scale production of graphene film for realization of graphene-based electronics. In this method, metal catalytic substrates including Ni and Cu have been used for CVD synthesis of graphene. There are two proposed mechanism of graphene synthesis: carbon diffusion and precipitation for graphene synthesized on Ni, and surface adsorption for graphene synthesized on Cu, namely, self-limiting growth mechanism, which can be divided by difference of carbon solubility of the metals. Here we present that large area, uniform, and layer controllable graphene synthesized on Cu catalytic substrate is achieved by acetylene-assisted CVD. The number of graphene layer can be simply controlled by adjusting acetylene injection time, verified by Raman spectroscopy. Structural features and full details of mechanism for the growth of layer controllable graphene on Cu were systematically explored by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.216-225
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• 2017

Since the experimental proof of one-atom-thick graphene single layer from graphite in 2004, graphene, as a leading material opening two-dimensional world, has been tremendously investigated owing to its intrinsic extraordinary physical properties. Among many promising graphene applications, it is believed that membranes might be one of the first significant applications for graphene and its derivatives (e.g., graphene oxide). Recently, a number of simulation results and proof-of-concept experimental approaches towards graphene membranes reflect such positive prospects. Moreover, graphene and graphene oxide already show many outstanding intrinsic properties suitable for promising membrane platforms, such as the minimum membrane thickness, excellent mechanical strength, high chemical and thermal stability, and the ability to generate nanopores in the two-dimensional, rigid hexagonal lattices or to create slit-like nanochannels between adjacent sheets. In this paper, important theoretical and experimental developments in graphene or graphene oxide-based membranes for gas separation based on intrinsic properties of graphene and its derivatives will be discussed, emphasizing on transport behavior, membrane formation methods, and challenging issues for actual membrane applications.

• Nano
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.1850126.1-1850126.10
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• 2018

Flexible strain sensors, as the core member of the family of smart electronic devices, along with reasonable sensing range and sensitivity plus low cost, have rose a huge consumer market and also immense interests in fundamental studies and technological applications, especially in the field of biomimetic robots movement detection and human health condition monitoring. In this paper, we propose a new flexible strain sensor based on thick CVD graphene film and its low-cost fabrication strategy by using the commercial adhesive tape as flexible substrate. The tensile tests in a strain range of ~30% were implemented, and a gage factor of 30 was achieved under high strain condition. The optical microscopic observation with different strains showed the evolution of cracks in graphene film. Together with commonly used platelet overlap theory and percolation network theory for sensor resistance modeling, we established an overlap destructive resistance model to analyze the sensing mechanism of our devices, which fitted the experimental data very well. The finding of difference of fitting parameters in small and large strain ranges revealed the multiple stage feature of graphene crack evolution. The resistance fallback phenomenon due to the viscoelasticity of flexible substrate was analyzed. Our flexible strain sensor with low cost and simple fabrication process exhibits great potential for commercial applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.522-526
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• 2009

Graphene has been effectively synthesized on Ni/SiO$_2$/Si substrates with CH$_4$ (1 SCCM) diluted in Ar/H$_2$(10%) (99 SCCM) by using an inductively-coupled plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Graphene was formed on the entire surface of the 500 nm thick Ni substrate even at 700 $^{\circ}C$, although CH$_4$ and Ar/H$_2$ gas were supplied under plasma of 600 W for 1 second. The Raman spectrum showed typical graphene features with D, G, and 2D peaks at 1356, 1584, and 2710 cm$^{-1}$, respectively. With increase of growth temperature to 900 $^{\circ}C$, the ratios of the D band intensity to the G band intensity and the 2D band intensity to the G band intensity were increased and decreased, respectively. The results were strongly correlated to a rougher and coarser Ni surface due to the enhanced recrystallization process at higher temperatures. In contrast, highquality graphene was synthesized at 1000 $^{\circ}C$ on smooth and large Ni grains, which were formed by decreasing Ni deposition thickness to 300 nm.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.694-699
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• 2014

We report the chemical vapor deposition growth characteristics of graphene on various catalytic metal substrates such as Ni, Fe, Ag, Au, and Pt. 50-nm-thick metal films were deposited on $SiO_2/Si$ substrates using dc magnetron sputtering. Graphene was synthesized on the metal/$SiO_2$/Si substrates with $CH_4$ gas (1 SCCM) diluted in mixed gases of 10% $H_2$ and 90 % Ar (99 SCCM) using inductively-coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP-CVD). The highest quality of graphene film was achieved on Ni and Fe substrates at $900^{\circ}C$ and 500 W of ICP power. Ni substrate seemed to be the best catalytic material among the tested materials for graphene growth because it required the lowest growth temperature ($600^{\circ}C$) as well as showing a low ICP power of 200W. Graphene films were successfully grown on Ag, Au, and Pt substrates as well. Graphene was formed on Pt substrate within 2 sec, while graphene film was achieved on Ni substrate over a period of 5 min of growth. These results can be understood as showing the direct CVD growth of graphene with a highly efficient catalytic reaction on the Pt surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.209.2-209.2
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• 2015

Two dimensional layered materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) family have been attracted significant attention due to novel physical and chemical properties. Among them, molybdenum disulfide ($MoS_2$) has novel physical phenomena such as absence of dangling bonds, lack of inversion symmetry, valley degrees of freedom. Previous studies have shown that the interface of metal/$MoS_2$ contacts significantly affects device performance due to presence of a scalable Schottky barrier height at their interface, resulting voltage drops and restricting carrier injection. In this study, we report a new device structure by using few-layer graphene as the bottom interconnections, in order to offer Schottky barrier free contact to bi-layer $MoS_2$. The fabrication of process start with mechanically exfoliates bulk graphite that served as the source/drain electrodes. The semiconducting $MoS_2$ flake was deposited onto a $SiO_2$ (280 nm-thick)/Si substrate in which graphene electrodes were pre-deposited. To evaluate the barrier height of contact, we employed thermionic-emission theory to describe our experimental findings. We demonstrate that, the Schottky barrier height dramatically decreases from 300 to 0 meV as function of gate voltages, and further becomes negative values. Our findings suggested that, few-layer graphene could be able to realize ohmic contact and to provide new opportunities in ohmic formations.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.293-300
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• 2022

The remarkable mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of graphene have recently sparked tremendous interest in various research fields. One of the most promising methods to produce large quantities of graphene dispersion is liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) which utilizes ultrasonic waves or shear stresses to exfoliate bulk graphite into graphene flakes that are a few layers thick. Graphene dispersion produced via LPE can be transformed into graphene ink to further boost graphene's applications, but producing high-quality graphene more economically remains a challenge. To overcome this shortcoming, an advanced LPE process should be developed that uses relatively cheap natural graphite as a graphene source. In this study, a flow-LPE process was used to exfoliate natural graphite to produce graphene that was three times cheaper and seven times larger than synthetic graphite. The optimal exfoliation conditions in the flow-LPE process were determined in order to produce high-quality graphene flakes. In addition, the structural and electrical properties of the flakes were characterized. The electrical properties of the exfoliated graphene were investigated by carrying out an ink formulation process to prepare graphene ink suitable for inkjet printing, and fabricating a printed graphene pattern. By utilizing natural graphite, this study offers a potential protocol for graphene production, ink formulation, and printed graphene devices in a more industrial-comparable manner.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1-5
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• 2012

We demonstrate that reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coated thin aluminum film is an effective optoacoustic transmitter for generating high pressure and high frequency ultrasound previously unattainable by other techniques. The rGO layer of different thickness is deposited between a 100 nm-thick aluminum film and a glass substrate. Under a pulsed laser excitation, the transmitter generates enhanced optoacoustic pressure of 64 times the aluminum-alone transmitter. A promising optoacoustic wave generation is possible by optimizing thermoelasticity of metal film and thermal conductivity of rGO in the proposed transmitter for laser-induced ultrasound (LIUS) applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.129-129
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• 2016

Graphene, as a single layer of $sp^2$-bonded carbon atoms packed into a 2D honeycomb crystal lattice, has attracted much attention due to its outstanding properties. In order to synthesize high quality graphene, transition metals, such as nickel and copper, have been widely employed as catalysts, which needs transfer to desired substrates for various applications. However, the transfer steps are not only complicated but also inevitably induce defects, impurities, wrinkles, and cracks of graphene. Furthermore, the direct synthesis of graphene on dielectric surfaces has still been a premature field for practical applications. Therefore, cost effective and concise methods for transfer-free graphene are essentially required for commercialization. Here, we report a facile transfer-free graphene synthesis method through nickel and carbon co-deposited layer. In order to fabricate 100 nm thick NiC layer on the top of $SiO_2/Si$ substrates, DC reactive magnetron sputtering was performed at a gas pressure of 2 mTorr with various Ar : $CH_4$ gas flow ratio and the 200 W DC input power was applied to a Ni target at room temperature. Then, the sample was annealed under 200 sccm Ar flow and pressure of 1 Torr at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 4 min employing a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) equipment. During the RTA process, the carbon atoms diffused through the NiC layer and deposited on both sides of the NiC layer to form graphene upon cooling. The remained NiC layer was removed by using a 0.5 M $FeCl_3$ aqueous solution, and graphene was then directly obtained on $SiO_2/Si$ without any transfer process. In order to confirm the quality of resulted graphene layer, Raman spectroscopy was implemented. Raman mapping revealed that the resulted graphene was at high quality with low degree of $sp^3$-type structural defects. Additionally, sheet resistance and transmittance of the produced graphene were analyzed by a four-point probe method and UV-vis spectroscopy, respectively. This facile non-transfer process would consequently facilitate the future graphene research and industrial applications.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.255-271
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• 2018

This paper deals with the transient dynamic analysis and elastic wave propagation in a functionally graded graphene platelets (FGGPLs)-reinforced composite thick hollow cylinder, which is subjected to shock loading. A micromechanical model based on the Halpin-Tsai model and rule of mixture is modified for nonlinear functionally graded distributions of graphene platelets (GPLs) in polymer matrix of composites. The governing equations are derived for an axisymmetric FGGPLs-reinforced composite cylinder with a finite length and then solved using a hybrid meshless method based on the generalized finite difference (GFD) and Newmark finite difference methods. A numerical time discretization is performed for the dynamic problem using the Newmark method. The dynamic behaviors of the displacements and stresses are obtained and discussed in detail using the modified micromechanical model and meshless GFD method. The effects of the reinforcement of the composite cylinder by GPLs on the elastic wave propagations in both displacement and stress fields are obtained for various parameters. It is concluded that the proposed micromechanical model and also the meshless GFD method have a high capability to simulate the composite structures under shock loadings, which are reinforced by FGGPLs. It is shown that the modified micromechanical model and solution technique based on the meshless GFD method are accurate. Also, the time histories of the field variables are shown for various parameters.