Rapid identification of graphene flakes: alumina does it better

We report a systematic investigation of the colour contrast (CC) of graphene (one, two and three layers) on 50, 72 and 80 nm thick Al(2)O(3)/Si(100) and 100 and 300 nm thick SiO(2)/Si(100). The CC is determined by the analysis of optical microscopy images taken under white light illumination. A corresponding assignment of graphene in the single-layer, double-layer and trilayer phases is made using micro-Raman spectroscopy. A quantitative evaluation allows us to conclude that the colour contrast between 72 nm alumina and graphene is significantly larger than that between 300 nm silicon oxide and graphene (by factors of 2.2, 2.0 and 3.3 for the single-layer, double-layer and trilayer graphene flakes respectively). Moreover, data indicate that, to increase visibility, the use of a red or a green light is preferable.