Growth of few- and multilayer graphene on different substrates using pulsed nanosecond Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

In this report, few- and multilayer graphene was fabricated on different substrates by pulsed laser ablation of a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite target under optimized growth conditions, using a pulsed nanosecond Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 355 nm (3.5 eV). The nondestructive micro-Raman spectroscopic study on our samples has revealed few- and multilayer graphene formation. The number of graphene layers was found to be reduced with the increase in growth temperature. At substrate temperature of 750 degrees C, the ratio of intensities (I-2D/I (G)) was calculated from the Raman spectra of the graphene samples to be 0.15 which confirms the multilayer graphene formation, while for graphene film grown at 800 degrees C, I-2D/I (G) ratio was 0.27 indicating formation of less than five layers of graphene or few-layer graphene. The thickness of few- and multilayer graphene was also confirmed using atomic force microscopy, whereas the microstructure of few- and multilayer graphene was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The electrical properties in function of growth temperature were evaluated with two-point probe measurements. This work presents a simple, fast, and controllable alternative effective laser technique to synthesize few- or multilayer graphene.