Charge injection in large area multilayer graphene by ambient Kelvin probe force microscopy

authors	Bdikin, I; Sharma, DK; Otero-Lrurueta, G; Hortiguela, MJ; Tyagi, PK; Neto, V; Singh, MK
nationality	International
journal	APPLIED MATERIALS TODAY
author keywords	Graphene; HF-TCVD; Charge injection/relaxation; Charge transport; Surface potential; Kelvin probe force microscopy
keywords	WORK-FUNCTION; OXIDE; TRANSISTORS; TRANSPORT; SHEETS; FILMS
abstract	This study demonstrated an in situ method for quantitative characterization of nanoscale electrostatic properties of as-grown multilayer-graphene (MLG) sheets on nickel by a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). Large area epitaxial MLG sheet were grown on nickel by Hot Filament-Thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The high crystalline MLG sheets on nickel were confirmed by Raman spectroscopy that revealed average G-bandwidths in the range of similar to 20 cm(-1). Herein, for the first time, the charge injection as well as subsequent charge diffusion over time on the MLG/nickel surface was demonstrated. The results unveiled that: (i) MLG surface can be either positively or negatively charged through injection process using Pt coated Si-based AFM probes; (ii) the charges accumulated and eventually reached to saturated concentrations of +4.45 (+/- 0.1) mu C/m(2) and -1.3 (+/- 0.1) mu C/m(2), respectively; (iii) the charge diffusion coefficients on graphene surface were measured to be 1.50 (+/- 0.05) + 10(-16) m(2)/s and 0.64 (+0.05) + 10-16 m(2)/s for the positive and the negative charges, respectively. The discovery of charge injection in MLG may pave the way for designing a new class of energy harvesting devices. Additionally, our study demonstrated a technique for nano-patterning/charge lithography of surface charges by contact electrification, which could be a promising application to create charged nanostructures for next generation graphene based nanoelectronic devices. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
publisher	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
issn	2352-9407
year published	2017
volume	8
beginning page	18
ending page	25
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1016/j.apmt.2016.11.005
web of science category	Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
subject category	Materials Science
unique article identifier	WOS:000415949000002