Study of the deposition of graphene oxide by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation

Thin films composed of graphene-based materials exhibit promising functional properties for the development of high-performance devices in a wealth of applications. However, there are significant technological challenges which force one to search for alternative pathways of materials production and deposition. This paper reports the deposition of graphene oxide (GO) flakes on quartz substrates by using the ultraviolet matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique in vacuum or controlled nitrogen gas environment. Water, which is highly transparent to UV radiation, was used as matrix solvent for the preparation of the MAPLE targets. The results reveal that GO platelets can be successfully transferred by MAPLE technique. Besides, the GO material experiences a significant deoxygenating process during deposition, leading to the formation of reduced GO. Numerical simulations also show that the thickness of GO platelets highly influences the deposition process and the structure of the immobilized material. Thick enough aggregates can reach temperatures of thousands of degrees and undergo a large degradation in their structure.