Ultrathin Oxide Films by Atomic Layer Deposition on Graphene

Abstract

In this paper, a method is presented to create and characterize mechanically robust, free standing, ultrathin, oxide films with controlled, nanometer-scale thickness using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) on graphene. Aluminum oxide films were deposited onto suspended graphene membranes using ALD. Subsequent etching of the graphene left pure aluminum oxide films only a few atoms in thickness. A pressurized blister test was used to determine that these ultrathin films have a Young's modulus of 154 \pm 13 GPa. This Young's modulus is comparable to much thicker alumina ALD films. This behavior indicates that these ultrathin two-dimensional films have excellent mechanical integrity. The films are also impermeable to standard gases suggesting they are pinhole-free. These continuous ultrathin films are expected to enable new applications in fields such as thin film coatings, membranes and flexible electronics.

Nano Letters (just accepted)

References in corpus (8)

• Two-Dimensional Gas of Massless Dirac Fermions in Graphene
• Graphene: Status and Prospects
• Experimental Observation of Quantum Hall Effect and Berry's Phase in Graphene
• Two Dimensional Atomic Crystals
• Large-Area Synthesis of High-Quality and Uniform Graphene Films on Copper Foils
• Boron nitride substrates for high-quality graphene electronics
• Impermeable Atomic Membranes from Graphene Sheets
• Ultra-strong Adhesion of Graphene Membranes

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Molecular Valves for Controlling Gas Phase Transport Made from Discrete Angstrom-Sized Pores in Graphene
• Mechanics of Adhered, Pressurized Graphene Blisters
• Graphene-based light sensing: fabrication, characterisation, physical properties and performance
• Observation of Pull-in Instability in Graphene Membranes under Interfacial Forces
• Bidirectional Self-Folding with Atomic Layer Deposition Nanofilms for Microscale Origami
• Scalable transparent conductive thin films with electronically passive interfaces for direct chemical vapor deposition of 2D materials
• Tunneling Spectroscopy of Graphene using Planar Pb Probes