Korean researchers grow 4-inch diameter, high-quality,
multi-layer graphene on desired silicon substrates, an important step for
harnessing graphene in commercial silicon microelectronics
(July 21, 2015) In
the last decade, graphene has been intensively studied for its unique optical,
mechanical, electrical and structural properties. The one-atom-thick carbon
sheets could revolutionize the way electronic devices are manufactured and lead
to faster transistors, cheaper solar cells, new types of sensors and more
efficient bioelectric sensory devices. As a potential contact electrode and
interconnection material, wafer-scale graphene could be an essential component
in microelectronic circuits, but most graphene fabrication methods are not compatible
with silicon microelectronics, thus blocking graphene's leap from potential
wonder material to actual profit-maker.
Now researchers from Korea University, in Seoul, have
developed an easy and microelectronics-compatible method to grow graphene and
have successfully synthesized wafer-scale (four inches in diameter),
high-quality, multi-layer graphene on silicon substrates. The method is based
on an ion implantation technique, a process in which ions are accelerated under
an electrical field and smashed into a semiconductor. The impacting ions change
the physical, chemical or electrical properties of the semiconductor.
In a paper published this week in the journal Applied
Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the researchers describe their work, which
takes graphene a step closer to commercial applications in silicon
microelectronics.
"For integrating graphene into advanced silicon
microelectronics, large-area graphene free of wrinkles, tears and residues must
be deposited on silicon wafers at low temperatures, which cannot be achieved
with conventional graphene synthesis techniques as they often require high
temperatures," said Jihyun Kim, the team leader and a professor in the
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Korea University. "Our
work shows that the carbon ion implantation technique has great potential for
the direct synthesis of wafer-scale graphene for integrated circuit
technologies."