Universal growth of graphene on arbitrary insulating substrates

Abstract Graphene synthesis on insulating substrates is a cornerstone for research on low-dimensional materials. However, it is challenging to grow graphene on insulators due to the lack of metal catalysts, lattice mismatch, and other factors. Although considerable approaches have been explored, it is still vital to develop a synthetic approach with general applicability. Herein, a universal growth strategy is proposed to synthesize graphene on arbitrary insulating substrates with relatively high efficiency. A non-adhered metal foil–insulator substrate has been designed, and a high-temperature near-melting annealing treatment has been used for obtaining high-quality graphene on insulators. Characterization results indicate that as-grown graphene exhibits uniform monolayer, defect-free structure, and smooth surface. Utilizing the same approach, graphene bilayers and trilayers have been fabricated on sapphire, and high-quality graphene has also been universally achieved on other insulating substrates. The proposed strategy could guide the production of large-area graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures on arbitrary substrates.