**2. Graphene fabrication**

Since graphene's performance is very susceptible to contamination and structural defects (such as folds, grain boundaries, and pin holes) from processing or the transfer process, a review of graphene growth techniques should be done to determine the benefits and drawbacks of each. [1] Due to the sensitivity of graphene, the growth method must be chosen with the required quality, processing, scale, and device architecture in mind, making exfoliation good for small test structures but inadequate for a repeatable semiconductor targeted process. As shown in Figure 4 there are five major pathways for creating graphene sheets: exfoliation from bulk graphite, unzipping through etching a carbon nanotube, growth from sublimation and reconstruction of carbon from a carbide surface, epitaxial growth from a carbide forming catalyst layer by utilizing condensation during cooling, and the epitaxial growth utilizing a non-carbide forming catalyst layer.

**Figure 4.** Fabrication schemes for the large scale synthesis of graphene sheets [19].
