Free-Suspended Graphene Synthesis Via Carbon Diffusion Through Platinum-Based Metal

Some advances in chemical vapor deposition process have provided noteworthy results toward the growth of large scale graphene. However, in contact with a neighboring material, graphene performances are usually reduced. Decoupling graphene from the substrate by suspension or intercalation is foreseen to recover its intrinsic properties. This work reports an original way for graphene suspension which occurs during its growth on platinum metal. This suspension arises above platinum silicide clusters which form during the annealing and induce the metal dewetting. The stretched graphene is highly corrugated because the clusterization of silicides structures induces additional stress. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3702808]