Low-Temperature Graphene Growth by Forced Convection of Plasma-Excited Radicals

We developed the forced convection (FC)-PECVD method for the synthesis of graphene, in which a specially designed blowing plasma source is used at moderate gas pressure (1-10 Torr) and the distribution of reactive radicals reaching the substrate surface can be controlled by forced convection. Self-limiting growth of graphene occurs on copper foil, and monolayer graphene growth with a few defects is achieved even at low temperatures (<400 °C). We also demonstrated the enlargement of the growth area using the scalable blowing plasma source. We expect that the FC-PECVD method overcomes the limitations of conventional low-temperature PECVD and provides a breakthrough for the achievement of industrial applications based on graphene.