Medium Energy Ion Scattering of Gr on SiC(0001) and Si(100)

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates high-resolution ion beam analysis for depth profiling of graphene on various substrates, enabling detailed study of graphene formation and composition with isotope labeling.

Contribution

It introduces a practical ion beam analysis method for monolayer graphene, capable of resolving graphene from substrates and using isotope labeling to study graphene growth.

Findings

High energy resolution distinguishes graphene from SiC and Si substrates.

Isotope labeling tags graphene generated from ethylene.

Applicable to graphene on oxidized Si(100) substrates and transferred films.

Abstract

Depth profiling of graphene with high-resolution ion beam analysis is a practical method for analysis of monolayer thicknesses of graphene. Not only is the energy resolution sufficient to resolve graphene from underlying SiC, but by use of isotope labeling it is possible to tag graphene generated from reacted ethylene. Furthermore, we are able to analyze graphene supported by oxidized Si(100) substrates, allowing the study of graphene films grown by chemical vapor deposition on metal and transfered to silicon. This introduces a powerful method to explore the fundamentals of graphene formation.