Electron beam generated plasmas for the processing of graphene

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed a processing system based on an electron beam-generated plasma and applied it to the processing of graphene. Unlike conventional discharges produced by electric fields (DC, RF, microwave, etc), the plasma is driven by a high-energy (~few keV) electron beam, an approach that simplifies the relative production of species while providing comparatively high ion-to-radical production rates. The resulting plasmas are characterized by high charged particle densities (1010-1011 cm−3) and electron temperatures that are typically about 1.0 eV or lower. Accordingly, the flux to adjacent surfaces is generally dominated by ions with kinetic energies in the range of 1-5 eV, a value at or near the bond strength of most materials. This provides the potential for controllably engineering materials with monolayer precision, an attribute attractive for the processing of atomically thin material systems. This work describes the attributes of electron beam driven plasma processing system and its use in modification of graphene.