The growth of graphite on polycrystalline Ni by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the microstructural relation of the graphitic films and the metallic substrate continues to puzzle the scientific community. Here, we report the wafer-scale growth of a nanometer-thick graphite film (~100 nm, NGF) on Ni foil via a fast-thermal CVD approach (5 min growth). Moreover, we shed light on how localized thickness variations of the NGF relate to the Ni surface topography and grain characteristics. While on a macro-scale (mm2), the NGF film looks uniform - with a few hundreds of highly ordered graphene layers (d0002 = 0.335 nm), when studied at the micro- and nano-scales, few-layer graphene sections can be identified. These are present at a density of 0.1-3% areas in 100 µm2, can be as thin as two layers, and follow an epitaxial relation with the [111] fcc-Ni planes. Throughout the 50 cm2 NGF, the sharp graphite/substrate interfaces are either composed of a couple of NiCx layers or a graphene layer. Moreover, the NGF was successfully transferred on SiO2/Si substrate by a wet chemical etching method. The as-produced NGFs could complement or offer an alternative to the mm-thick films produced from natural graphite flakes or polymer sheets.

中文翻译：

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Ni箔上纳米厚石墨膜的快速晶圆级生长及其结构分析

通过化学气相沉积 (CVD) 在多晶镍上生长石墨以及石墨薄膜与金属基体的微观结构关系一直困扰着科学界。在这里，我们报告了通过快速热 CVD 方法（5 分钟生长）在 Ni 箔上的纳米厚石墨膜（~100 nm，NGF）的晶圆级生长。此外，我们阐明了 NGF 的局部厚度变化如何与 Ni 表面形貌和晶粒特征相关。在宏观尺度 (mm2) 上，NGF 薄膜看起来很均匀 - 具有数百个高度有序的石墨烯层 (d0002 = 0.335 nm)，当在微米和纳米尺度上研究时，几层石墨烯切片可以确定。这些在 100 µm2 中以 0.1-3% 的密度存在，可以薄至两层，并遵循与 [111] fcc-Ni 平面的外延关系。在整个 50 cm2 NGF 中，尖锐的石墨/基板界面要么由几个 NiCx 层组成，要么由一个石墨烯层组成。此外，NGF通过湿化学蚀刻法成功转移到SiO2/Si衬底上。所生产的 NGF 可以补充或替代由天然石墨片或聚合物片材生产的毫米厚薄膜。