Self-Limiting Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Monolayer Graphene from Ethanol

Using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), we, for the first time, realize the self-limiting growth behavior of monolayer graphene on commercially available electroplated copper foils from a carbon precursor other than methane, and systematically investigate the growth of graphene from ethanol and compare its self-limiting behavior over copper facets with different identities. Results show that the growth of graphene from ethanol in the LPCVD process is a substrate-mediated process, in which the domains of graphene are determined by the lattice axes on the copper facets. Moreover, during the evolution of the domains, low-index copper facets of Cu(111) and Cu(100) play a critical role in the following self-limiting process of a continuous graphene sheet, whereas the Cu(110) and high-index facets favor nucleation and formation of secondary layers. In addition, a high degree of similarity exists between graphene grown from ethanol and methane, showing that, when the carbon flux is sufficiently low, the self-limiting growth of graphene on copper surfaces using LPCVD is independent of the precursor structure of ethanol and methane.