Graphene visibility vs. SiO2 thickness

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    Graphene Thickness
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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the visibility of single-layer graphene flakes on silicon substrates with varying SiO2 thickness, specifically addressing the impact of a 320 nm oxide layer compared to the ideal 300 nm. The referenced paper, "Making graphene visible," indicates that increased thickness can reduce contrast and shift visibility to different wavelengths. However, practical experience suggests that graphene remains visible on substrates with thicknesses between 250-300 nm, and visibility is even enhanced on 100 nm surfaces.

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Vaidas
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Hi,

has anyone had any experience with visibility of single-layer flakes of graphene on substrates with non-optimum thickness of SiO2?
We've been shopping for some Silicon wafers with 300 nm of SiO2, but our supplier can only ensure the oxide thickness within 10% of the specified value. I was wondering if the substrates with, say, 320 nm of SiO2 would still allow the flakes to be visible with an optical microscope.

The only paper I found specifically addressing this problem ("Making graphene visible", http://arxiv.org/abs/0705.0259 ) has a calculated visibility plot which would suggest that at oxide thickness of 320 nm the contrast would reduce and shift to a different wavelength (compared to the thickness of 300 nm) and I was wondering how much of an issue this would be in practice.
 
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It won’t matter so much. Graphene is pretty easy to see on 250-300nm surfaces (it’s even easier to see on 100 non surfaces).
 

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