Atomic Layer Deposition of Metal Oxides on Pristine and Functionalized Graphene

TL;DR

This study explores atomic layer deposition of metal oxides on graphene, revealing that pristine graphene allows growth only at defect sites, while functionalized graphene enables uniform coating, facilitating advanced electronic applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates a method to selectively deposit metal oxides on graphene using surface functionalization, enabling uniform coatings for electronic device integration.

Findings

ALD grows only on defect sites of pristine graphene.

Functionalization with PTCA enables uniform ALD coating.

Potential for integrating high-k dielectrics in graphene electronics.

Abstract

We investigate Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of metal oxide on pristine and functionalized graphene. On pristine graphene, ALD coating can only actively grow on edges and defect sites, where dangling bonds or surface groups react with ALD precursors. This affords a simple method to decorate and probe single defect sites in graphene planes. We used perylene tetracarboxylic acid (PTCA) to functionalize graphene surface and selectively introduced densely packed surface groups on graphene. Uniform ultrathin ALD coating on PTCA graphene was achieved over large area. The functionalization method could be used to integrate ultrathin high-k dielectrics in future graphene electronics.