Characteristics of Graphite Films on Silicon- and Carbon-Terminated Faces of Silicon Carbide

Auger;Reconstruction;STM;Thickness;AES;LEED;Graphene;Graphite;Silicon carbide

Li, Tianbo ; Physics

University:Georgia Institute of Technology

Department:Physics

关键词: Auger;    Reconstruction;    STM;    Thickness;    AES;    LEED;    Graphene;    Graphite;    Silicon carbide;   

Others  :  https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/1853/14024/1/li_tianbo_200612_phd.pdf

美国|英语

来源: SMARTech Repository

【 摘 要 】

Ultrathin graphite films, with thickness from 1-30 atomic layers, are grown on the Si-terminated and C-terminated faces of 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC via thermal desorption of silicon in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber or in a high-vacuum RF furnace.Graphite LEED patterns and atom-resolved STM images on graphite films prove that epitaxial growth is achieved on both faces of the SiC substrate. The thickness of graphite films is estimated with modeling the Si:C Auger peak intensities. Through LEED and STM investigations of monolayer graphite grown on the Si-face of SiC(0001) surface, we show the existence of a SiC 6R3*6R3 reconstructed layer between graphite films and the SiC substrate. The complicated LEED patterns can be interpreted partially by the kinematic scattering of the interfacial layer and the 6*6 surface corrugation. Further scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) measurements indicate that the graphite films remain continuous over the steps between domains. Carbon nanotubes and carbon nanocaps cover about 40% of the graphitized C-face of SiC. The remaining areas are flat graphite films. Graphite ribbons were made through E-beam lithography. After the lithography process, the graphitic features remain on flat region underneath HSQ residues.