Atomic layer deposition of aluminum oxide films on graphene

Abstract

Seed-layer approach was studied to initiate atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 films on graphene. Low-temperature ALD and electron beam evaporation (EBE) were applied for seed-layer preparation before deposition of the dielectric at 200 °C using trimethyl-aluminum and water or ozone as precursors. To characterize nucleation of the films and possible influence of the ALD processes on the quality of graphene, properties of graphene and Al2O3 films were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy methods. The results suggest that seed layer formation by low-temperature ALD was more efficient in the O3-based process than in the H2O-based one while EBE seed layer provided fastest growth of Al2O3 together with minimum incubation period.