KERI develops room-temperature method for growing graphene and graphite films
Researchers have successfully grown graphene and graphite thin films directly on substrates at room temperature.
The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has advanced the production of carbon films by modifying a standard industrial sputtering system to grow graphene and graphite thin films directly on substrates at room temperature. This development allows for the creation of ultra-thin one- to two-layer graphene and neatly stacked multilayer graphite films.
Graphene is considered a promising material for minimizing power loss and heat generation in electrical applications. Traditional production methods involve growing the film on one surface and then transferring it to the target material, a process that complicates large-area coverage and the construction of alternating stacks of graphene and metal layers. KERI's team employed an epitaxial growth technique, enabling carbon atoms to align in ordered lines along the substrate during sputtering, a common physical vapor deposition method in industrial coating. This approach allows control over the layer count, from monolayer and bilayer graphene to multilayer graphite, all without the need for a transfer step.
Kim Ho-seop, a senior researcher at KERI's Power Cable Research Center, stated, "After many trials and errors, we experimentally confirmed that it is possible to form graphene-based thin films in which carbon atoms are regularly aligned even using the sputtering method."
Utilizing existing sputtering equipment, this method could provide a scalable solution for producing large-area, transfer-free graphene and graphite films, which are crucial for power and thermal management applications.
Source: Graphene Feed