KENBIKYO Vol.53▶No.2 2018
■Feature Articles: Exploring the Nanostructure of Low Dimensional Materials

Epitaxial Graphene and Transmission Electron Microscopy

Michiko Kusunoki, Yoshiho Masuda, Yuta Yamamoto and Wataru Norimatsu

Abstract: Qualitative epitaxial graphene is fabricated directly over large area of semi-insulating substrate by thermal decomposition of SiC, which leads to possible application in the field of high frequency transistor devices. However, hence it is a remaining important subject that carriers in graphene are scattered by phonon on the surface of substrate. In this study, to modify this graphene/SiC interface structure, formation of novel periodical atomic-layer interface structures by nitridation and establishment of quasifreestanding technique of graphene by rapid-cooling treatment using its negative thermal expansion coefficient were carried out. In this paper, in particular, a process of assignment of the nitrided interface structure by direct observation of the interface using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is introduced, and effectiveness and importance of HRTEM observation for the structure analysis of graphene are referred.

Key words: silicon carbide, thermal decomposition, interface structure, freestanding, danglingbond