Graphene synthesis via droplet CVD AND its photonic applications

The process of “droplet CVD” for the synthesis of graphene sheets and its photonic applications have been demonstrated. Metal (Cu or Ni) droplets are naturally transformed from thin films under high temperature and used as the catalysts to grow graphene via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. This work has achieved several advancements: (1) first demonstration of “droplet CVD” for graphene synthesis; (2) constructions of continuous graphene sheets with discontinuous metal droplets - readily available for graphene sensing applications; and (3) preliminary proof-of-concept demonstration of a photonic sensor based on the droplet CVD graphene. As such, this new class of fabrication process could open up various graphene-based device/system applications, including photonic sensors.