Superior Adhesion of Monolayer Amorphous Carbon to Copper
The single-atom thickness of graphene holds great potential for device scaling, but its effectiveness as a thin metal-ion diffusion barrier in microelectronics and a corrosion barrier for plasmonic devices is compromised by weak van der Waals interactions with copper (Cu), leading to delamination issues. In contrast, monolayer amorphous carbon (MAC), a recently reported single-atom-thick carbon film with a disordered sp<sup>2</sup> hybridized structure, demonstrates superior adhesion properties. This study reveals that MAC exhibits an adhesion energy of 85 J m<sup>-2</sup> on Cu, which is 13 times greater than that of graphene. This exceptional adhesion is attributed to the formation of covalent-like Cu─C bonds while preserving its sp<sup>2</sup> structure, as evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further elucidate that the corrugated structure of MAC facilitates the hybridization of C 2p<sub>z</sub> orbitals with Cu 4s and 3dz<sup>2</sup> orbitals, promoting strong bonding. These insights indicate that the amorphous structure of MAC significantly enhances adhesion while preserving its elemental composition, providing a pathway to improve the mechanical reliability and performance of two-dimensional (2D) materials on metal substrates in various technological applications.
Authors
- Chuan Chu Tee
- Anna A. Makarova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5603-5566)
- Michel Bosman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8717-7655)
- Ugur Karadeniz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0517-5494)
- Chee‐Tat Toh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1298-978X)
- H. L. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1032-5435)
- Carlo M. Orofeo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1848-3795)
- D. V. Vyalikh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9053-7511)
- Bent Weber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8586-127X)
- Sergey Grebenchuk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4565-7167)
- Zhengjue Tong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2805-5316)
- Аlena A. Alekseeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4072-7645)
- Kazu Suenaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6107-1123)
- Maciej Koperski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8301-914X)
- Kostya S. Novoselov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4972-5371)
- Ruslan D. Yamaletdinov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8858-8862)
- Rejaul Sk
- Artem K. Grebenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3193-4386)
- Oleg V. Yazyev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7281-3199)
- Andrei V. Starkov
- Barbaros Oezyilmaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7665-4578)
- Konstantin Iakoubovskii (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7610-4717)
- Ranjith Shivajirao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6196-175X)
- Ya Qun He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2451-0641)
- Lu Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7015-385X)
- Hanning Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9103-8431)
- Alexander Fedorov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9228-7082)
- Junhao Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7871-3946)
Institutions
- Ikerbasque (ES)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (DE)
- Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (DE)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Quantum Design (Germany) (DE)
- Donostia International Physics Center (ES)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- The University of Osaka (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2025-05-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202419112
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Graphene research and applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.11
Funders
- Economic Development Board - Singapore
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Office of Naval Research Global