In situ characterization of 2D SiC growth on liquid copper by GIXRD

The use of liquid metal catalysts (LMCat) is a promising fabrication technique for the large scale, defect less and fast growth of graphene and related 2D materials. Specifically, the growth of 2D-SiC on LMCat substrates follows the methodology previously developed for our successful growth of Mo2C on liquid Cu. The successful growth of such 2D-SiC is not fully supported yet. Preliminary experiments in ID10 reactor revealed the growth of 3C SiC in liquid copper, in-situ monitored by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and Radiation Mode Microscopy (RMM). The aim of our proposal is to take a step further and determine in detail the growth conditions of 2D-SiC on liquid copper, emphasizing to the crystallographic phase in order to favour the formation of the hexagonal 2H phase. This experimental strategy will enable us to understand further the exact growth mechanisms and fine tune the conditions with regards to temperature, time and especially hydrocarbon precursor flow.