Graphene treatment using a very low energy Ar+ ion beam for residue removal

The effect of Ar+ ion energy on the removal of the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) residue remaining on the chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene surface without damaging the graphene surface was investigated. Stable and low energy Ar+ ion beams having a mono-energetic energy distribution with a peak energy of 7.5 eV or 11.5 eV could be formed by using a two-grid magnetically enhanced ICP ion gun with and without the application of 25 Gauss axial magnetic field, respectively, while controlling the Ar gas flow rate. When the CVD graphene treatment was performed with the Ar+ ions having the ion energy peak at 7.5 eV (with the magnetic field) and 11.5 eV (without the magnetic field), the blue shift of Raman G peak from p-type doped to intrinsic graphene indicating the removal of residue on the graphene surface could be observed for both conditions, however, the graphene treated at 11.5 eV (without the magnetic field) showed the increase of the defect while that treated at 7.5 eV (with the magnetic field) showed no significant change of the defect. It is believed that, for the treatment of CVD graphene, possibly due to the low binding energy area such as grain boundaries and domains in the CVD graphene, low energy ions with less than the energy of 10 eV is required not to damage the graphene surface, and a magnetically enhanced ICP ion gun which can provide stable and low energy Ar+ ions with a mono-energetic ion energy distribution with a peak of 7.5 eV can be applicable to the residue removal on the graphene surface.