Chemical vapor deposition growth of bilayer graphene in between molybdenum disulfide sheets

Wojciech Kwieciñski; Kai Sotthewes; Bene Poelsema; Harold J W Zandvliet; Pantelis Bampoulis

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2017.06.076

Chemical vapor deposition growth of bilayer graphene in between molybdenum disulfide sheets

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2017 Nov 1:505:776-782. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.06.076. Epub 2017 Jun 23.

Authors

Wojciech Kwieciñski¹, Kai Sotthewes², Bene Poelsema², Harold J W Zandvliet², Pantelis Bampoulis³

Affiliations

¹ Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials, MESA+Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands; Faculty of Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Zeromskiego 116, 90-924 Lodz, Poland. Electronic address: w.kwiecinski@utwente.nl.
² Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials, MESA+Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
³ Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials, MESA+Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands; Physics of Fluids and J.M. Burgers Centre for Fluid Mechanics, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands. Electronic address: p.bampoulis@utwente.nl.

PMID: 28666222
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.06.076

Abstract

Direct growth of flat micrometer-sized bilayer graphene islands in between molybdenum disulfide sheets is achieved by chemical vapor deposition of ethylene at about 800°C. The temperature assisted decomposition of ethylene takes place mainly at molybdenum disulfide step edges. The carbon atoms intercalate at this high temperature, and during the deposition process, through defects of the molybdenum disulfide surface such as steps and wrinkles. Post growth atomic force microscopy images reveal that circular flat graphene islands have grown at a high yield. They consist of two graphene layers stacked on top of each other with a total thickness of 0.74nm. Our results demonstrate direct, simple and high yield growth of graphene/molybdenum disulfide heterostructures, which can be of high importance in future nanoelectronic and optoelectronic applications.

Keywords: 2D materials; Chemical vapor deposition; Graphene; Heterostructures; MoS(2).