Etchant-free graphene transfer using facile intercalation of alkanethiol self-assembled molecules at graphene/metal interfaces

We report a novel etchant-free transfer method of graphene using the intercalation of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) at the graphene/Cu interfaces. The early stage of intercalation proceeds through graphene grain boundaries or defects within a few seconds at room temperature until stable SAMs are formed after a few hours. The formation of SAMs releases the compressive strain of graphene induced by Cu substrates and make graphene slightly n-doped due to the formation of interface dipoles of the SAMs on metal surfaces. After SAM formation, the graphene is easily delaminated off from the metal substrates and transferred onto insulating substrates. The etchant-free process enables us to decrease the density of charged impurities and the magnitude of potential fluctuation in the transferred graphene, which suppress scattering of carriers. We also demonstrate the removal of alkanethiol SAMs and reuse the substrate. This method will dramatically reduce the cost of graphene transfer, which will benefit industrial applications such as of graphene transparent electrodes.