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Graphene on Diamond: Device Fabrication and Characterization for Electronics Applications
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Electricity.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2785-356X
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)Alternative title
Graphene on Diamond for Electronic Applications : Fabrication and Characterization (English)
Description
Abstract [en]

Diamond and graphene are two unique carbon allotropes whose exceptional properties, extensively investigated separately, make them attractive for next-generation electronics. Diamond combines ultra-high thermal conductivity, a wide bandgap, excellent mechanical robustness, and chemical inertness, enabling efficient heat dissipation and high breakdown fields. Graphene, by contrast, is a two-dimensional material with extremely high carrier mobility and outstanding electrical conductivity arising from its Dirac-cone band structure. These attributes have sparked strong interest in integrating graphene with diamond to realize high-power, high-frequency, and quantum-compatible devices.

However, reproducible fabrication of graphene-based devices and a comprehensive understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the graphene/diamond interface are still lacking. Furthermore, the physical and chemical properties of the graphene/diamond heterostructure remain incompletely explored.

This thesis investigates two routes for forming graphene/diamond interface —rapid direct growth on (100) single-crystalline diamond (SCD) using a Nickel (Ni) catalyst at high temperature (1073 K), and wet transfer of commercial CVD graphene— and evaluates their electrical and quantum-sensing performance. Direct growth yields predominantly multilayer graphene with only ~20% monolayer coverage due to high carbon solubility in Ni, resulting in a room-temperature Hall mobility of ~79 cm2V−1s−1, underscoring challenges such as Ni dewetting and non-uniform precipitation. In contrast, transferred graphene on electronic-grade SCD with low Nitrogen concentration(< 5 ppb) attains derived hole Hall mobilities up to 2750 cm2V−1s−1 and exhibits weak temperature dependence from 80 K to 300 K, indicating that charged-impurity scattering is strongly suppressed.

Surface-termination engineering, such as plasma O-termination and thermal H-termination, further improves low-temperature mobility, increasing from 1238 to 1640 cm2V−1s−1 and reveals distinct remote-interfacial-phonon energies, ~60 meV and ~114 meV, for O- and H-termination types respectively. Electrical robustness is demonstrated by current densities exceeding 1×109 A/cm2, surpassing limits on conventional substrates such as SiO2.

Photoelectric detection of magnetic resonance (PDMR) of NV ensembles operates reliably from 77 K to 395 K, yielding a zero-field-splitting temperature coefficient dD/dT ~73 kHz/K and magnetic-field sensitivities comparable to conventional ODMR, thereby providing an on-chip electrical readout pathway for quantum sensing.

The goal is to develop a fabrication process and investigate its properties. Ultimately, this study aims to explore the potential of graphene-on-diamond for electronic devices and to identify factors that can optimize their performance.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2025. , p. 81
Series
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, ISSN 1651-6214 ; 2617
Keywords [en]
Diamond, Graphene, Hall effect, NV centers, PDMR, surface termination.
National Category
Engineering and Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-571790ISBN: 978-91-513-2679-5 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-571790DiVA, id: diva2:2015048
Public defence
2026-01-26, Heinz-Otto Kreis, Ångströmlaboratoriet, Regementsvägen 10, Uppsala, 13:15 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2025-12-19 Created: 2025-11-20 Last updated: 2025-12-19
List of papers
1. Temperature dependence of charge transport in single-layer graphene on surface-terminated diamond
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Temperature dependence of charge transport in single-layer graphene on surface-terminated diamond
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2026 (English)In: Carbon trends, E-ISSN 2667-0569, Vol. 22, article id 100598Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The integration of single-layer graphene with diamond substrates offers a promising platform for highperformance electronic devices by utilizing the exceptional properties of both materials. This study describes a fabrication process and transport measurements of single-layer graphene devices on diamond substrates featuring two surface terminations: hydrogen (H-terminated, thermal process) and oxygen (O-terminated, plasma treatment). The carrier transport properties were investigated using Hall effect measurements over a broad temperature range (80-400 K) under high-vacuum conditions (1 x 10-4 mbar). Our findings reveal that thermal annealing significantly improves the graphene-diamond interface quality, causing a notable increase in carrier mobility for devices on both H- and O-terminated from 1439 to 1644 cm2/Vs and from 1238 to 1340 cm2/Vs, respectively. We also found that the effect of remote interfacial phonon scattering on high-temperature mobility is affected by the termination type. These findings highlight the importance of substrate surface engineering and offer a pathway for optimizing graphene-diamond heterostructures for advanced electronic applications.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2026
Keywords
Diamond, graphene, surface termination, Hall effect
National Category
Other Materials Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-571788 (URN)10.2139/ssrn.5623754 (DOI)001639390500001 ()
Funder
Carl Tryggers foundation , 22:2017Carl Tryggers foundation , 24:3542Swedish Energy Agency, P2019-90157
Available from: 2025-11-20 Created: 2025-11-20 Last updated: 2026-01-12Bibliographically approved
2. Trading Photons for Charge: Robust quantum sensing from 77 K to 395 K
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Trading Photons for Charge: Robust quantum sensing from 77 K to 395 K
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(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This study investigates the impact of temperature variations on the photoelectrical detection ofmagnetic resonances (PDMR) in nitrogen-vacancy (NV) ensembles within single-crystalline, CVD-grown diamond, spanning temperatures from 77 K to 395 K. It is demonstrated that the chargecollection efficiency is sufficient for performing PDMR across this temperature range. Recognizingthe influence of defect states on the photoelectric detection, we utilize a 561-nm laser to reducephotoionization of P1 defects, thereby optimizing sensitivity. Our findings indicate that PDMR isa promising alternative to optically detected magnetic resonance, which can meet the requirementsfor miniaturization and high sensitivity in quantum sensing applications over a wide temperaturerange.

National Category
Engineering and Technology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-571789 (URN)
Available from: 2025-11-20 Created: 2025-11-20 Last updated: 2025-11-20
3. Graphene on Single‐Crystal Diamond for Electronic Applications: A Brief Review
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Graphene on Single‐Crystal Diamond for Electronic Applications: A Brief Review
2024 (English)In: Physica Status Solidi (A): Applications and Materials Science, ISSN 1862-6300, E-ISSN 1862-6319Article, review/survey (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Graphene on diamond has emerged as a promising platform for various electronic applications. This brief review article explores the recent advancements and the potential of graphene on diamond for electronic applications with a focus on single-crystal (SC) chemically vapor-deposited and high-pressure and high-temperature diamond. Device fabrication techniques, properties, and performance of single-layer graphene on diamond in various electronic devices are discussed. This hybrid system's challenges and prospects are also analyzed. A particular emphasis is placed on the unique benefits of diamond as a substrate for graphene and its growth, including its high thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, high optical phonon energy, and the importance of achieving high-quality single-layer graphene on SC diamond.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, 2024
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-550628 (URN)10.1002/pssa.202400567 (DOI)001384969200001 ()2-s2.0-85213071534 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2022‐04186Swedish Energy Agency, P2019‐90157
Available from: 2025-02-17 Created: 2025-02-17 Last updated: 2025-12-01Bibliographically approved
4. Extreme Current Density and Breakdown Mechanism in Graphene on Diamond Substrate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Extreme Current Density and Breakdown Mechanism in Graphene on Diamond Substrate
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2025 (English)In: Carbon, ISSN 0008-6223, E-ISSN 1873-3891, Vol. 237, article id 120108Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The high current-carrying capacity of graphene is essential for its use as an interconnect in electronic and spintronic circuits. At the same time, knowing the breakdown limits and mechanism under high fields can enable new device design strategies. In this work, we push the current carrying capacity of the scalable form of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene employing a high-thermal conducting single crystalline diamond substrate. Our experiments on CVD graphene reveal extremely high current densities > 109 A/cm2 in graphene on the diamond with both ohmic (low-resistive) and tunneling tunnel (high-resistive) contacts. Measurements on ferromagnetic (TiOx/Co) and metallic (Ti/Au) contacts demonstrate current densities of ∼1.16×109 A/cm2 and ∼1.7×109 A/cm2, respectively. The tunnel (high-resistive) contacts exhibit a shunting of graphene under high currents via the bottom graphitized diamond, resulting in dielectric breakdown and via alternative conducting paths. Electrical measurements show a distinct threshold for conducting paths of graphitized diamond, in tune accordance with Middleton-Wingreen's theory. Our results of high current densities achieved in CVD graphene, with distinct dependence on ohmic and tunneling, contact resistance, and the observed breakdown mechanism, provide new insights for enabling high-current all carbon circuits.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025
Keywords
CVD Graphene, diamond, high current carrying capacity, fractal pattern
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-550657 (URN)10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120108 (DOI)001460969300001 ()2-s2.0-85218100128 (Scopus ID)
Funder
EU, European Research Council, 101002772Olle Engkvists stiftelse, 200–0602Swedish Energy Agency, 48698-1Swedish Energy Agency, 48591-1Swedish Research Council, 2021-05932Swedish Research Council, 22-04186-5Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019-01326Swedish Research Council Formas, 2023-01607Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, 2022.0079
Available from: 2025-02-17 Created: 2025-02-17 Last updated: 2025-11-20Bibliographically approved
5. Enhanced Hall mobility in graphene-on-electronic-grade diamond
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Enhanced Hall mobility in graphene-on-electronic-grade diamond
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2023 (English)In: Applied Physics Letters, ISSN 0003-6951, E-ISSN 1077-3118, Vol. 123, no 1, article id 012102Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The outstanding electronic properties of graphene make this material a candidate for many applications, for instance, ultra-fast transistors. However, self-heating and especially the detrimental influence of available supporting substrates have impeded progress in this field. In this study, we fabricate graphene-diamond heterostructures by transferring graphene to an ultra-pure single-crystalline diamond substrate. Hall-effect measurements were conducted at 80 to 300 K on graphene Hall bars to investigate the charge transport properties in these devices. Enhanced hole mobility of 2750 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) could be observed at room-temperature when using diamond with reduced nitrogen (N-s(0)) impurity concentration. In addition, by electrostatically varying the carrier concentration, an upper limit for mobility is determined in the devices. The results are promising for enabling carbon-carbon (C-C) devices for room-temperature applications.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Institute of Physics (AIP), 2023
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-508841 (URN)10.1063/5.0156108 (DOI)001025214300012 ()
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2018-04154Swedish Energy Agency, 44718-1EU, Horizon 2020, 881603
Available from: 2023-08-16 Created: 2023-08-16 Last updated: 2025-11-20Bibliographically approved
6. Rapid direct growth of graphene on single-crystalline diamond using nickel as catalyst
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Rapid direct growth of graphene on single-crystalline diamond using nickel as catalyst
2023 (English)In: Thin Solid Films, ISSN 0040-6090, E-ISSN 1879-2731, Vol. 770, article id 139766Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Although theoretical investigations indicate that the successful combination of graphene and diamond would give interesting properties, only a limited number of reports dealing with the subject have been published. Here, we present a rapid thermal process (RTP) which involves nickel (Ni) as metal catalyst for a direct growth of graphene on diamond at a temperature of 1073 K for 60 s. This process operates with a combination of a lower temperature and for a shorter duration than what has previously been reported. Thin Ni films of different thicknesses were deposited on top of (100) single-crystalline diamond. After RTP, the coverage of monolayer graphene was found to be around 20% shown by the intensity ratio between the 2D- and G-peak using Raman spectroscopy on 50 nm thick Ni films. In addition, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analysis were conducted. For electrical characterization, Hall-effect measurements were performed at temperatures between 80 and 360 K.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2023
Keywords
Rapid thermal annealing, Metal catalyst, Graphene, Diamond
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-500122 (URN)10.1016/j.tsf.2023.139766 (DOI)000954419500001 ()
Funder
Swedish Energy Agency, 48591-1ÅForsk (Ångpanneföreningen's Foundation for Research and Development), 19-427ÅForsk (Ångpanneföreningen's Foundation for Research and Development), 21-53E. och K.G. Lennanders Stipendiestiftelse
Available from: 2023-04-12 Created: 2023-04-12 Last updated: 2025-11-20Bibliographically approved
7. Isolated Grid-Forming Control of Wave Energy Converter for Island Electrification
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Isolated Grid-Forming Control of Wave Energy Converter for Island Electrification
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2025 (English)In: IEEE Access, E-ISSN 2169-3536, Vol. 13, p. 50860-50875Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

As the world transitions to renewable electrification to reduce CO2 emissions, remote island electrification remains a challenge. Although some islands are connected to the grid, many still rely on fossil fuels for electricity generation. Several studies indicate that renewable energy sources, such as wave energy, have the potential to make these islands self-reliant because of their substantial power potential. However, research on the control of power electronics converters for these systems remains limited. This paper proposes isolated grid-forming control for island electrification to address this gap using a wave energy converter and an energy storage system. Resistive loading control is implemented to optimize the power absorption of the generator. The result illustrates the establishment of the required AC voltage and 50 Hz frequency in the island load, ensuring harmonics compliance with the recommended standards. Experiments were conducted to test and validate the operation of different converter controls. The results also demonstrate the converter's ability to black-start the island load and automatically transition the load current with varying loads in a few milliseconds. Furthermore, the power quality produced by the wave energy converter presents one of its significant challenges. Therefore, the performance of two distinct converter technologies was compared. The performance of the IGBT converter was evaluated against that of the SiC-based converter in terms of power quality. The study demonstrates that the use of SiC enhances power quality in all switching frequencies tested, achieving the most significant reduction of 78% in current THD and 92% in voltage THD at the 25 kHz switching frequency, thus validating its advantages for wave energy converter applications.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2025
Keywords
Wave energy conversion, Renewable energy sources, Harmonic analysis, Energy storage, Electrification, Costs, Power quality, Electricity, Electric potential, Control systems, Wave energy, control system, island electrification, grid-forming, energy storage system control, harmonics mitigation
National Category
Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering Energy Systems Energy Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-554668 (URN)10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3552820 (DOI)001453644600002 ()2-s2.0-105001555406 (Scopus ID)
Funder
StandUp
Available from: 2025-04-16 Created: 2025-04-16 Last updated: 2025-11-20Bibliographically approved
8. Defect investigation of undoped wide bandgap materials: Comparison between charge transient spectroscopy (QTS) and inverse Laplace QTS
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Defect investigation of undoped wide bandgap materials: Comparison between charge transient spectroscopy (QTS) and inverse Laplace QTS
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2025 (English)In: Journal of Applied Physics, ISSN 0021-8979, E-ISSN 1089-7550, Vol. 137, no 15, article id 155701Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Understanding the electrically active defects and impurities in semiconductors, especially in intrinsic or unintentionally doped wide bandgap materials, still remains a challenge. Here, time-of-flight (ToF) measurement using a solid state light source (355 and 213 nm) was performed on intrinsic silicon carbide and single-crystalline diamond. The charge transient spectroscopy (QTS) and the inverse Laplace (IL) QTS methods were applied to analyze the ToF results. Using these methods, we were able to trace the existing impurities in both materials. However, ILQTS proved to be more sensitive, with higher resolution for detection of existing multiple defects. The results suggest that this system can successfully be employed to investigate electrically active impurities at different energy states in highly resistive and undoped materials.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Institute of Physics (AIP), 2025
National Category
Physical Sciences Engineering and Technology
Research subject
Engineering Science with specialization in Solid State Physics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-555690 (URN)10.1063/5.0257511 (DOI)001472585200019 ()2-s2.0-105003023834 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Research Council, 04186-5Carl Tryggers foundation , CTS 24:3542
Available from: 2025-04-30 Created: 2025-04-30 Last updated: 2026-01-12Bibliographically approved

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