Qualitative techniques for the detection of graphene on a Si/SiO2 substrate, without the use of sophisticated equipment, are presented. Once calibrated, this technique can be used to detect Single Layer Graphene (SLG) and Few Layer Graphene (FLG) with the use of an inexpensive optical microscope (OM), OM camera system, and image processing software. This technique could be transferred to graphene deposited on other substrates or other 2-D materials with minor updates to mathematical theory.

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has the advantage of an aqueous and industrial-scalable production route. However, one of the main limitations that prevent the use of RGO in electronics is the high electrical resistance deviation between fabricated chips. In this article, we present the novel growth of RGO which can bridge the gaps in-between existing flakes and thus reduce the electrical resistance standard deviation from 80.5 % to 16.5 %. The average resistivity of the treated RGO of ∼ 3.8 nm thickness was 200 Ω/square. The study uses an atmospheric-pressure chemical vapour deposition (CVD) system with hydrogen and argon gas bubbling through ethanol before entering the furnace. With a treatment of 2 hours, 100 % of the silicon dioxide substrate was covered with RGO from an initial 65 % coverage. This technology could enable large-scale application of RGO use in practical electronic devices.