Simultaneous etching and transfer — Free multilayer graphene sheets derived from C₆₀ thin films

Despite the advantage of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for realization of large area epitaxial growth of graphene on transition metal catalysts, both etching and transfer process of CVD-grown graphene sheets still remain a big challenge. Here we demonstrate the formation of multilayer graphene (MLG) sheets tailored from C₆₀ thin films on the top of Si/Ni substrate without etching and transfer steps based on Ni films. This self-assembled process separates the MLG sheets from the conductive Ni catalyst, embarking a possibility for direct characterizations of MLG sheets. The fine-tuned C₆₀ films (30 nm) are transformed into approximately 17 MLG sheets, thus making it large-area MLG sheets for a variety of direct applications.