Graphene growth on metal surfaces

The exceptional properties of graphene originate from its two-dimensional polymeric structure of sp(2)-bonded carbon. This feature also causes graphene to grow on metal substrates through mechanisms that are strikingly different from those of conventional heteroepitaxy. We provide here a brief review of graphene growth on metals, a subject with a rich history even before the recent explosion of interest in graphene. The current activities related to graphene growth on metals have been motivated by the need to develop low-cost, scalable processes for graphene synthesis and to understand how graphene-metal interfaces behave in devices. In this article, we examine the current state of the art, emphasizing the basic processes that distinguish graphene growth from normal crystal growth.