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Surface preparation vs graphene nucleation on copper

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00

Summary

summary
Bottom line

Surface preparation shifts nucleation density by one to two orders of magnitude in reported work. Electropolishing and oxygen pre-treatment both push toward fewer, larger domains.[1,2]

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Comparison table

section
Pre-treatmentNucleation density (cm⁻²)Bilayer shareMonolayer coverage
Mechanical polish10⁵–10⁶higher80–90%
Electropolish10⁴–10⁵medium90–95%
Oxygen pre-treatment10³–10⁴lower95–97%
Oxygen + electropolish10³–10⁴lowestup to ~99% (reported)
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Numeric comparison

section
n=4 · Highest 300,000（Mechanical polish） · Max/min 75×
Surface preparation
Nucleation density (illustrative)
Mechanical polish
300,000cm⁻²1×
Electropolish
40,000cm⁻²7.5×
Oxygen pre-treatment
10,000cm⁻²30×
Oxygen + electropolish
4,000cm⁻²
1,00010,000100,0001×10⁶

Illustrative values: relative order between treatments, not one measured batch.

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Reading guide

section
  • The table gives reported ranges, not one experiment.
  • Fewer bilayer nuclei usually mean higher final monolayer coverage.
  • Copper melts at 1085 °C; these routes assume a solid foil below that.
E

Sources

references
  1. Oxygen pre-treatment for graphene CVD on copper
    Author A; Author B · 2024 · Carbon · §Results · p.4
    Surface pre-treatment and the CH4/H2 ratio are the main knobs for nucleation density.
    DOI 10.5555/12345678 · score 1.24
  2. Nucleation density on electropolished copper
    Author C · 2022 · Carbon · §Methods · p.112
    Reported nucleation densities on copper span about 10^3 to 10^5 cm^-2.
    DOI 10.5555/12345684 · score 1.08
  3. Raman signature of layer number in CVD graphene
    Author D · 2021 · Carbon · §Discussion · p.301
    Monolayer graphene usually shows I(2D)/I(G) above 2; bilayer falls to 0.5-1.
    DOI 10.5555/12345690 · score 0.93