Superior Adhesion of Monolayer Amorphous Carbon to Copper
Abstract
Abstract The single‐atom thickness of graphene holds great potential for device scaling, but its effectiveness as a thin metal‐ion diffusion barrier in microelectronics and a corrosion barrier for plasmonic devices is compromised by weak van der Waals interactions with copper (Cu), leading to delamination issues. In contrast, monolayer amorphous carbon (MAC), a recently reported single‐atom‐thick carbon film with a disordered sp 2 hybridized structure, demonstrates superior adhesion properties. This study reveals that MAC exhibits an adhesion energy of 85 J m −2 on Cu, which is 13 times greater than that of graphene. This exceptional adhesion is attributed to the formation of covalent‐like Cu─C bonds while preserving its sp 2 structure, as evidenced by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further elucidate that the corrugated structure of MAC facilitates the hybridization of C 2p z orbitals with Cu 4s and 3dz 2 orbitals, promoting strong bonding. These insights indicate that the amorphous structure of MAC significantly enhances adhesion while preserving its elemental composition, providing a pathway to improve the mechanical reliability and performance of two‐dimensional (2D) materials on metal substrates in various technological applications.
Article Details
Authors (28)
Hongji Zhang
Artem K. Grebenko
Department of Physics National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
Konstantin V. Iakoubovskii
Department of Physics National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
Hanning Zhang
Ruslan Yamaletdinov
Institute of Physics Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Lausanne CH‐1015 Switzerland
Anna Makarova
Helmholtz‐Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie Berlin Germany
Alexander Fedorov
Rejaul SK
Division of Physics and Applied Physics School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Nanyang Technological University Singapore 637371 Singapore
Ranjith Shivajirao
Zheng Jue Tong
Sergey Grebenchuk
Ugur Karadeniz
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National University of Singapore Singapore 117575 Singapore
Lu Shi
College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Liangzhu Laboratory
Denis V. Vyalikh
Donostia International Physics Center 1 , 20018 Donostia–San Sebastian,
Ya He
Andrei Starkov
Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
Alena A. Alekseeva
Department of Physics National University of Singapore Singapore 117551 Singapore
Chuan Chu Tee
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National University of Singapore Singapore 117575 Singapore
Carlo Mendoza Orofeo
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National University of Singapore Singapore 117575 Singapore
Junhao Lin
Kazutomo Suenaga
NCNST‐OU collaborative laboratory SANKEN The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research) The University of Osaka Osaka Japan
Michel Bosman
Maciej Koperski
Bent Weber
Kostya S. Novoselov
Oleg V. Yazyev
Chee‐Tat Toh
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
Barbaros Özyilmaz