Morphologies and interlayer delamination of multilayer graphene on rough Au substrate

Abstract

Recently, Au-assisted exfoliation method [Nat. Commun., 2020, 11(1): 2453; Sci. Adv., 2020, 6(44): eabc6601] has been identified as a universal route for producing large-area graphene monolayers because of large interfacial adhesion between Au and graphene. However, atomically flat Au films are difficult to be prepared in available experiments. In this study, the effects of rough Au substrate on the configuration and interlayer delamination of multilayer graphene are analyzed by combining theoretical models with molecular dynamics simulations. The competition between interfacial van der Waals interaction and bending energy of multilayer graphene determines morphologies of graphene membranes. In particular, the interface delamination of multilayer graphene can be regulated by amplitudes and wavelengths of rough Au substrate. This study provides a deep understanding of bending behaviors of two-dimensional multilayer nanomaterials on rough substrate, which is of great importance for designing multilayer graphene-based electron devices.