Step geometry–guided growth of rhombohedral graphene

Rhombohedral (ABC)-stacked graphene has emerged as a platform for exploring correlated and topological physics. However, its large-scale, pure-phase synthesis has been hindered by intrinsic thermodynamic metastability and kinetic instability. In this work, we introduce a step geometry-guided epitaxial strategy to deterministically control interlayer slip, enabling the synthesis of pure-phase rhombohedral graphene. Using this approach, we obtained pure (phase purity > 99%) rhombohedral graphene with an area reaching 160 micrometers by 80 micrometers and thickness ranging from ~15 layers to ~120 nanometers. The resulting samples establish the first comprehensive reference dataset of Raman fingerprints and intrinsic band structures from few-layer films to ~200-layer bulk. Electronic transport measurements reveal a layer-antiferromagnetic state and the quantum anomalous Hall effect, enabling scalable exploration of next-generation quantum science and technology applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-07-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aed9202
Primary Topic
Topological Materials and Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Step geometry–guided growth of rhombohedral graphene

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Topological Materials and Phenomena
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Step geometry–guided growth of rhombohedral graphene

Mengze Zhao, Hanbo Xiao, Kaihui Liu, Xin Sui, Xiaobo Lu, Quanlin Guo, Yilong You, Enge Wang, Li Wang, Zhibin Zhang, Feng Ding, Cheng Qian, Feng Zuo, Jingyi Zhu, Tianze Dong, Zaizhe Zhang, Li Wang
article en

Abstract

Rhombohedral (ABC)-stacked graphene has emerged as a platform for exploring correlated and topological physics. However, its large-scale, pure-phase synthesis has been hindered by intrinsic thermodynamic metastability and kinetic instability. In this work, we introduce a step geometry-guided epitaxial strategy to deterministically control interlayer slip, enabling the synthesis of pure-phase rhombohedral graphene. Using this approach, we obtained pure (phase purity > 99%) rhombohedral graphene with an area reaching 160 micrometers by 80 micrometers and thickness ranging from ~15 layers to ~120 nanometers. The resulting samples establish the first comprehensive reference dataset of Raman fingerprints and intrinsic band structures from few-layer films to ~200-layer bulk. Electronic transport measurements reveal a layer-antiferromagnetic state and the quantum anomalous Hall effect, enabling scalable exploration of next-generation quantum science and technology applications.

ScienceVol. 393(6809)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Peking University (CN), ShanghaiTech University (CN), Wuhan University (CN), Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN), Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CN), Institute for Advanced Study (DE), Institute of Physics (CN), National Laboratory for Superconductivity (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Topological Materials and Phenomena
DOISourceOpenAlex
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