Continuous wafer scale graphene on cubic SiC 001

The atomic and electronic structure of graphene synthesized on commercially available cubic SiC 001 Si 001 wafers have been studied by low energy electron microscopy LEEM , scanning tunneling microscopy STM , low energy electron diffraction LEED , and angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy ARPES . LEEM and STM data prove the wafer scale continuity and uniform thickness of the graphene overlayer on SiC 001 . LEEM, STM and ARPES studies reveal that the graphene overlayer on SiC 001 consists of only a few monolayers with physical properties of quasi freestanding graphene. Atomically resolved STM and micro LEED data show that the top graphene layer consists of nanometersized domains with four different lattice orientations connected through the amp; 12296;110 amp; 12297; directed boundaries. ARPES studies reveal the typical electron spectrum of graphene with the Dirac points close to the Fermi level. Thus, the use of technologically relevant SiC 001 Si 001 wafers for graphene fabrication represents a realistic way of bridging the gap between the outstanding properties of graphene and their application