Layer number and stacking sequence imaging of few-layer graphene by transmission electron microscopy

A method based on dark field transmission electron microscopy is developed to quantitively investigate the layer number and stacking order of multilayer graphene, demonstrated here on multilayer crystalline graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. Our results show that the relative intensities of first- and second-order diffraction spots and contrast in corresponding dark field images are sufficient to identify the layer number and stacking order of graphene with layer number up to seven (7) or more with few-nanometer spatial resolution.