Dewetting behavior of electron-beam-deposited Au thin films on various substrates: graphenes, quartz, and SiO2 wafers

초록

We demonstrate the dewetting behavior of Au thin films on the following substrates: single- and multilayer mechanically exfoliated graphene, and SiO2 and ST-cut quartz wafers. The 1-nm-thick Au thin films were prepared by electron beam deposition. The mean sizes of the Au nanoparticles from as-deposited samples were 0.4, 0.9, 1.6, and 2.3 nm and increased after a 60-min annealing at 900 A degrees C to 5.1, 6.4, 9.4, and 10.8 nm for SiO2, ST-cut quartz, mono- and bi-layer graphene, respectively. Conversely, the areal densities of the Au nanoparticles decreased in all substrates with increasing annealing time. The different sizes, areal densities, and morphological evolutions of the Au nanoparticles due to annealing on the different substrates imply different interfacial interactions between Au and each surface. In addition, it is worth noting that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can be grown using the dewetted Au nanoparticles on graphene-coated quartz substrates. Finally, the present work can contribute to not merely precise formation of Au nanoparticles via dewetting phenomenon but also surface modification of graphene and SWNT growth.

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