Step geometry–guided growth of rhombohedral graphene
- Mengze Zhao
- Zhibin Zhang
- Xin Sui
- Quanlin Guo
- Cheng Qian
- Zaizhe Zhang
- Hanbo Xiao
- Jingyi Zhu
- Zuo Feng
- Yilong You
- Tianze Dong
- Xin-Zheng Li
- Sheng Wang
- Li Wang
- Enge Wang
- Feng Ding
- Zhongkai Liu
- Xiaobo Lü
- Kaihui Liu
2026-07-23
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.