Aviv Zohman - Microwave Plasma Reactor for Graphene Synthesis

Graphene’s remarkable electrical, optical, and chemical properties make it a promising successor to indium tin oxide for applications in flexible, transparent electronics. However, efforts to manufacture graphene have been hindered by inefficient synthesis and transfer methods. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is commonly used to produce graphene. CVD starts with a blank surface onto which a chemical vapor is deposited to create a single graphene layer. CVD requires extreme temperatures, so only substrates with high melting points are applicable, like metals. This excludes insulative substrates such as polymers which are essential to transparent and flexible devices. Therefore, a subsequent process transfers the graphene sheet from the metal substrate onto an insulating one. During this transfer, the graphene sheet is usually deformed. On the other hand, microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) enhances this approach by lowering the process temperature, thereby eliminating the need for substrate transfer. Here, we design and build a custom MPCVD reactor to directly deposit graphene on insulating substrates for applications in flexible, transparent electronics.