The Atomic-Scale Investigation of Graphene Formation on 6H-SiC(0001)

Published

July 1, 2008

Author(s)

N Guisinger, Gregory M. Rutter, Jason Crain, Christian Heiliger, P First, Joseph A. Stroscio

Abstract

The growth of graphene on the silicon terminated face of 6H-SiC(0001) was investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements. The initial stages of ultra high vacuum (UHV) graphitization resulted in the growth of individual graphene sheets on random SiC terraces. These initial graphene sheets contained few defects, while the regions of clean SiC were free of contamination and exhibited a 6 x 6 surface reconstruction. However, further graphitization to multilayer thickness resulted in multiple defects as observed with the STM. We characterize these defects, which appear to be below the first layer of graphene and can potentially impact the transport characteristics of the graphene films.

Citation

Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A

Volume

26

Issue

4

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

carbon nanotubes, defects, graphene, scanning tunnelig microscopy, scattering, SiC

Citation

Guisinger, N. , Rutter, G. , Crain, J. , Heiliger, C. , First, P. and Stroscio, J. (2008), The Atomic-Scale Investigation of Graphene Formation on 6H-SiC(0001), Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=620021 (Accessed October 6, 2025)