Nondestructive optical visualisation of graphene domains and boundaries

Abstract

The domain boundaries of polycrystalline graphene produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) adversely influence the graphene transporting properties. The existing domain visualisation methods for large area graphene always cause detrimental damage or contamination. Here we report a nondestructive method for spatial visualisation of the domains and boundaries of large area continuous graphene grown on Cu foils (Gr/Cu) by CVD. Using a rationally modified optical microscope, we can directly observe novel star-like bright line sets of Gr/Cu in an enhanced dark field mode. Each set of the bright lines is identified as the ridges of one Cu surface pyramid which arises beneath one enlarging graphene domain due to slower evaporation of graphene-covered Cu than that of graphene-free Cu. This one to one correspondence thereby enables nondestructive visualisation. This method offers an advantageous pathway for monitoring the spatial distribution of the graphene domains and boundaries. We have further discovered for the first time various types of star-like ridge structures which are governed by the underlying Cu crystallographic orientations. This gives rise to a new phenomenon for research on the complex 2D material–metal interfacing.