Structured epitaxial graphene growth on SiC by selective graphitization using a patterned AlN cap

Electronic quality epitaxial graphene has been selectively grown on silicon carbide capped with a patterned aluminum nitride layer, providing a pathway to produce device structures that avoid lithographic patterning of graphene itself. Patterning of the cap exposes SiC where graphene will grow. Capped areas inhibit graphene growth and withstand graphitization temperatures up to 1420°C under 100 Pa of argon pressure. Graphene Hall bars were fabricated and characterized by scanning Raman spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and transport measurements. Hall-mobility is about 600 cm2/V s and can be further enhanced by fine tuning the argon pressure and improving the quality of SiC surface prior to graphitization.