Comparison of Growth Behavior and Electrical Properties of Graphene Grown on Solid and Liquid Copper by Chemical Vapor Deposition

We study the graphene growth behavior above and below the copper (Cu) melting point (1083 degrees C) by only changing the growth temperature from 1020 degrees C to 1100 degrees C at intervals of 40 degrees C, to investigate the effect of the Cu phase as a catalyst layer in graphene growth. We investigate the graphene growth behavior by observing the changes in nucleation density and grain size with growth time. As the phase of the Cu catalyst changes from solid to liquid, the grain size of graphene increases by 2 orders of magnitude from 0.4 to 40 mum, while the nuclei density decreases by 4 orders of magnitude from 3.02/mum(2) to 0.0004/mum(2). Additionally, as in previous studies, graphene growth shows a well-aligned hexagonal shape on liquid Cu although graphene on solid Cu shows an irregular shape under the same growth conditions. The effect of the smooth surface of the liquid metal catalyst on graphene growth is remarkable even after considering the temperature difference. The reduction of defect density arising from the increase of the graphene grain size is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, the improvement in electrical properties is also investigated by Hall measurements.