Low-Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Graphene Layers on Copper Substrate Using Camphor Precursor

A two-step, low-temperature thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, which uses camphor for synthesizing continuous graphene layer on Cu substrate is reported. The growth process was performed at lower temperature (800 °C) using camphor as the source of carbon. A threezone CVD system was used for controlled heating of precursor, in order to obtain uniform graphene layer. As-grown samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show the presence of 4-5 layers of graphene. As-grown graphene transferred onto a glass substrate through a polymer-free wet-etching process, demonstrated transmittance ~91% in visible spectra. This process of synthesizing large area, 4-5 layer graphene at reduced temperature represents an energy-efficient method of producing graphene for possible applications in opto-electronic industry.