Mechanism of Growth of Graphene Grains on Copper during Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

Graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on Cu is very promising for future graphene applications, as it meets the two requirements for batch production, namely: 1) large size and self limitation to a single-layer of graphene and 2) easy transfer onto arbitrary substrates [1-4]. New insights for controlling CVD processes, e.g. leading to dendritic growth of graphene flakes [5], or allowing for controlling the size of hexagonal islands [6], were recently demonstrated.