Bottom-up approach for the low-cost synthesis of graphene-alumina nanosheet interfaces using bimetallic alloys

All rights reserved. The production of high-quality graphene-oxide interfaces is normally achieved by graphene growth via chemical vapour deposition on a metallic surface, followed by transfer of the C layer onto the oxide, by atomic layer and physical vapour deposition of the oxide on graphene or by carbon deposition on top of oxide surfaces. These methods, however, come with a series of issues: they are complex, costly and can easily result in damage to the carbon network, with detrimental effects on the carrier mobility. Here we show that the growth of a graphene layer on a bimetallic Ni3Al alloy and its subsequent exposure to oxygen at 520 K result in the formation of a 1.5 nm thick alumina nanosheet underneath graphene. This new, simple and low-cost strategy based on the use of alloys opens a promising route to the direct synthesis of a wide range of interfaces formed by graphene and high-κ dielectrics.
The research activities of L.O., E.M., F.O. and A.B. have received funding from the MIUR within the programme PRIN 2010-2011 for the project entitled ‘GRAF. Frontiers in Graphene Research: understanding and controlling Advanced Functionalities’ (No.20105ZZTSE_001). E.R.H. acknowledges support of the Spanish Research and Innovation Office through project FIS2012-31713. E.R.H. and D.A. acknowledge support from the Leverhulme Trust. M.B., S.U. and P.H. acknowledge support from the VILLUM foundation, The Danish Council for Independent Research/Technology and Production Sciences.