Graphene Production Improved Through Use of Mammoth Copper Grains

Graphene, whose title as world's strongest and thinnest material has made it the darling of the science world, could be closer to commercial production thanks to a new study outlining a new recipe for a new graphene substrate.

Light and flexible, graphene is a one-atom-thick carbon layer that boasts electrical properties superior to the silicon used throughout today's electronics. First revealed in its current form in 2004, the material stands to increase Internet speed, produce cheaper solar cells and perhaps one day give way to the world's most resilient condom, just for starters.

The absence of a growth platform able to withstand the intense heat needed for its production is among those obstacles preventing graphene from realizing this impressive resume. Thus far, most copper films have proven unable to withstand this phase of growth, which "has been one problem preventing wafer-scale production of graphene devices," according to Mark Keller, a researcher from the National Institute of Standards and Technology  .

To get around this, Keller and his team pumped up the grain size of the copper substrate. They developed a two-step process to do this, first depositing copper onto a sapphire wafer held just above room temperature before they then heated the wafer close to the melting point of copper. 

The result was copper grains several centimeters in size -- mammoths in terms of microelectronics. By taking on these larger forms, the grains were able to withstand the necessary temperatures. 

As a proof of concept, the scientists grew graphene grains 0.2 millimeters in diameter on the new surface.

Writing in the journal AIP Advances, the researchers argue the process "is both simpler to implement and produces superior results" than those that have gone before.