ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the graphene growth mechanisms at the atomic scale revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) observations combined with molecular-dynamics calculations based on density-functional tight-binding method. The combined information from the HRTEM observation and the Raman spectroscopy showed that the full width at half maximum of the 2D band less than 40 cm-1 was an indication of monolayer graphene. Graphene on SiC is one of the best candidates for application in electronics because wafer-scale single crystalline graphene can be epitaxially grown on the semi-insulating substrate. The chapter describes the possible atomic structures of graphene on silicon carbide (SiC) and their basic electronic properties. On the Si-terminated SiC surface, graphene nucleates at the atomic steps and then grows laterally on the upper terrace. Graphene growth from SiC is different from typical step-flow crystal growth in terms of the fact that it grows on the upper terrace after nucleation at the step.
