Chemical Vapor Deposited Few-Layer Graphene as an Electron Field Emitter

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of graphene on polycrystalline copper (Cu) foil in a low pressure conditions has been presented, aiming to achieve the highest quality with large-scale fabrications, which requires comprehensive understanding and effective controlling of the growth process. Herein, few-layer graphene (FLG) films with large-domain sizes were grown on Cu metal catalyst substrates using a vertical mass-flow hot-filament CVD reactor, with the intention of large scale production, by optimizing the CVD system and three of the process parameters: (i) gas flow compositions, (ii) substrate annealing time and (iii) graphene deposition time. The detailed scanning electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy analysis indicate that all the above mentioned process parameters affect growth of FLG film on Cu substrate. The presence of two intense peaks, G and 2D-band at 1583.6 and 2702.6 cm⁻¹ for synthesized sample at optimized conditions (H₂/CH₄ ratio of 50:1 at graphene deposition time of 10 minutes and substrate annealed time for 20 minutes) revealed the formation of FLG films with large domain size. These graphene films on Cu have shown the room temperature field electron emission characteristics, hence appears to be prospective candidate for vacuum nanoelectronics.