CMOS-compatible catalytic growth of graphene on a silicon dioxide substrate

We report the direct growth of graphene on a dielectric SiO₂ surface by utilizing complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatible germane as a gas-phase catalyst. Results of Raman spectroscopy and XPS confirmed that the synthesized graphene consist of a sp² hybridized carbon network. We were able to fabricate graphene field effect transistors without the wet etching process, and the calculated mobility was ∼160 cm²/V·s at high carrier concentration (n = 3 × 10¹² cm⁻²). Furthermore, the crystallinity and morphology of graphene is easily controlled from single-layer graphene to graphene nanowall structures by adjusting the reaction conditions. The results of this study verify the promising catalytic graphene growth method on a non-catalytic insulating surface without metal contaminations.