Improved performance and stability of field-effect transistors with polymeric residue-free graphene channel transferred by gold layer

Abstract

One of the most significant issues that occurs when applying chemical-vapor deposited (CVD) graphene (Gr) to various high-performance device applications is the result of polymeric residues. Polymeric residues remain on the Gr surface during Gr polymer support transfer to an arbitrary substrate, and these residues degrade CVD Gr electrical properties. In this paper, we propose that a thin layer of gold be used as a CVD Gr transfer layer, instead of a polymer support layer, to enable a polymer residue-free transfer. Comparative investigation of the surface morphological and qualitative analysis of residues on Gr surfaces and Gr field-effect transistors (GFETs) using two transfer methods demonstrates that gold-transferred Gr, with uniform, smooth, and clean surfaces, enable GFETs to perform better than Gr transferred by the polymer, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). In GFETs fabricated by the gold transfer method, field-effect carrier mobility was greatly enhanced and the position of the Dirac point was significantly reduced compared to GFETs fabricated by the PMMA transfer method. In addition, compared to the PMMA-transferred GFETs, the gold-transferred GFETs showed greatly increased stability with smaller hysteresis and higher resistance to gate bias stress effects. These results suggest that the gold transfer method for Gr provides significant improvements in GFET performance and reliability by minimizing the polymeric residues and defects on Gr.