Low-temperature synthesis of graphene on Cu using plasma-assisted thermal chemical vapor deposition

Plasma-assisted thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was carried out to synthesize high-quality graphene film at a low temperature of 600°C. Monolayer graphene films were thus synthesized on Cu foil using various ratios of hydrogen and methane in a gaseous mixture. The in situ plasma emission spectrum was measured to elucidate the mechanism of graphene growth in a plasma-assisted thermal CVD system. According to this process, a distance must be maintained between the plasma initial stage and the deposition stage to allow the plasma to diffuse to the substrate. Raman spectra revealed that a higher hydrogen concentration promoted the synthesis of a high-quality graphene film. The results demonstrate that plasma-assisted thermal CVD is a low-cost and effective way to synthesis high-quality graphene films at low temperature for graphene-based applications.