Temperature study of CVD graphene on Cu thin films: Competition between C catalysis and Cu dewetting

In this paper we report on a systematic study of Cu thin film dewetting by the monitoring of the intensity of the infra-red emission from the film surface during Rapid Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition of graphene. The time evolution of Cu coverage highlights three typical stages of dewetting which strongly depend not only on the temperature and film thickness, but also on the pressure and composition of the gas in chamber. Consequently, we demonstrate that the Cu surface can be effectively activated in films at temperatures lower than in foils and the process can be fully controlled by adjusting those parameters, in order to reach the optimal conditions for graphene growth.