Fast and Non-Catalytic Growth of Transparent & Conductive Graphene-Like Carbon Films on Glass at Low Temperature

This article presents the synthesis and systematic study on graphene-like carbon thin films directly grown on commercial glass by using remote-ECR Plasma Assisted CVD. The fabrication process is extremely rapid and performed on to 2 inch scale dielectric substrate at relatively low temperature (< 550oC) without using metal catalyst. This method avoids damaging and expensive transfer processes of graphene based films and improves compatibility with current fabrication technologies. Nanoestructural characterization by TEM indicates the formation of layered graphene-like carbon material. Raman Spectroscopy shows that the film consists of nanocrystals with a mean domain size close to 2 nm, probably interconnected by amorphous material. These graphene-like carbon based films are transparent and conductive. Functional optoelectric characterization of these films confirms their high transparency over 95% and relative high conductivity around 5 kΩ, exceeding the properties of non-doped small domain graphene based films grown at low temperatures reported by far.