Unveiling the nature of atomic defects in graphene on a metal surface

• Karl Rothe,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 416–425, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.37

• Karl Rothe Nicolas Neel Jorg Kroger Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, D-98693 Ilmenau, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.15.37 Abstract Low-energy argon ion bombardment of graphene on Ir(111) induces atomic-scale defects at the surface. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, the two

• geometric structure of the defect sites. Surprisingly, the smallest defect in graphene on Ir(111), which appears as a depression in STM images and, therefore, may readily be assigned to a single-C vacancy site, gives rise to an undistorted graphene lattice in AFM images. In contrast, slightly larger defects

• of defects. Experimental A combined STM-AFM was operated in ultrahigh vacuum (5 × 10−9 Pa) and at low temperature (5 K). Surfaces of Ir(111) were cleaned by Ar+ ion bombardement and annealing. The epitaxial growth of graphene proceeded by exposing the heated (1300 K) Ir(111) surface to the gaseous

Local stiffness and work function variations of hexagonal boron nitride on Cu(111)

• Abhishek Grewal,
• Yuqi Wang,
• Matthias Münks,
• Klaus Kern and
• Markus Ternes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 559–565, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.46

• ) [19][20], strain-induced highly corrugated layers for h-BN/Rh(111) [21][22][23], and template layers for molecules with strong local variations of the work function for h-BN/Ir(111) [24] are representative of such morphological diversity. We use low-temperature combined scanning tunnelling (STM) and

Reconstruction of a 2D layer of KBr on Ir(111) and electromechanical alteration by graphene

• Zhao Liu,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Stefan Peeters,
• Sebastian Scherb,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Maria Clelia Righi and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 432–439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.35

• reconstruction of a two-dimensional layer of KBr on an Ir(111) surface is observed by high-resolution noncontact atomic force microscopy and verified by density functional theory (DFT). The observed KBr structure is oriented along the main directions of the Ir(111) surface, but forms a characteristic double-line

• work functions of the reconstructed and the cubic configuration of KBr were measured and indicate, in accordance with the DFT calculations, a difference of nearly 900 meV. The difference is due to the strong interaction and local charge displacement of the K+/Br− ions and the Ir(111) surface, which are

• reduced by the decoupling effect of graphene, thus yielding different electrical and mechanical properties of the top KBr layer. Keywords: DFT; graphene; Ir(111); KBr; KPFM; nc-AFM; surface reconstruction; Introduction Many two-dimensional (2D) materials have excellent optical, mechanical

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of rubrene on clean and graphene-covered metal surfaces

• Karl Rothe,
• Alexander Mehler,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1157–1167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.100

• phthalocyanine molecules on graphene-covered SiO2/Si samples [5] as well as on h-BN-covered Ir(111) [6], of conjugated oligohenylenes on h-BN-covered Cu(111) [7], of manganese phthalocyanine on h-BN-covered Rh(111) [8], and of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylbisbenz[5,6]indendo[1,2,3-cd:1′,2′,3′-lm]perylene on graphene

• -covered Ir(111) [9] have been reported so far. In these studies molecular orbitals, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) or the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), appear with spectroscopic fine structure in differential conductance (dI/dV, I: tunneling current, V: bias voltage) data

• functions are indeed present on the moiré lattice of graphene. For instance, graphene-covered Ir(111), which may serve as a reference for graphene on Pt(111) owing to the comparably low hybridization of graphene with the two metal surfaces, exhibits work function changes of the order of 0.1 eV [47]. In the

Templating effect of single-layer graphene supported by an insulating substrate on the molecular orientation of lead phthalocyanine

• K. Priya Madhuri,
• Abhay A. Sagade,
• Pralay K. Santra and
• Neena S. John

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 814–820, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.66

• [6][11][20][21][22]. Studies concerning the orientation of nonplanar MPcs on graphene are rare. Vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) has been reported to attain edge-on configuration on a graphene surface [23]. The nucleation of CuPc on graphene is reported to be influenced by the underlying Ir(111

Structural model of silicene-like nanoribbons on a Pb-reconstructed Si(111) surface

• Agnieszka Stępniak-Dybala and
• Mariusz Krawiec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1836–1843, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.185

• epitaxial layers have been synthesized on Ag(111), Ir(111), ZrB2(111) [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] or recently on graphite [25]. Among them epitaxial silicene on Ag(111) has been the most extensively studied. Depending on the temperature and deposition rate, various superstructures, i.e., 4 × 4

Adsorption and diffusion characteristics of lithium on hydrogenated α- and β-silicene

• Fadil Iyikanat,
• Ali Kandemir,
• Cihan Bacaksiz and
• Hasan Sahin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1742–1748, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.175

• , silicene exhibits a low-buckled structure. Although bulk silicon does not have a layered structure, syntheses of a 2D form of silicon via epitaxial growth on several metal substrates such as Ag(111) [5][20], Ir(111) [21], and ZrB2(0001) [22] were achieved. By performing ab initio calculations, Liu et al

Graphene on SiC(0001) inspected by dynamic atomic force microscopy at room temperature

• Mykola Telychko,
• Jan Berger,
• Zsolt Majzik,
• Pavel Jelínek and
• Martin Švec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 901–906, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.93

• physical corrugation of SLG and its contribution to the observed STM contrast, as it has already been successfully studied on graphene/Ir(111) [16][17][18]. However, it is well-known that the morphological modulations of the SLG arise from the interaction with the so-called buffer layer – a C-rich phase

• -peak), which corresponds well to the experimental estimation and is comparable to a similar calculation in [36]. The value is much smaller than the corrugation obtained for graphene/Ru(0001) and graphene/Ir(111) that are both claimed to be in the range of 100 pm (corresponding to 35 pm RMS) [37][38][39

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of graphitic carbon nanomaterials doped with heteroatoms

• Toma Susi,
• Thomas Pichler and
• Paola Ayala

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 177–192, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.17

• . Values of 284.15 [76][78] and 284.2 eV [69][70] have been measured on Ir(111) and Au-intercalated Ni(111) surfaces, respectively. C 1s values for graphene on other metal surfaces range from as low as 283.97 eV on Pt(111) [76][77], to 284.5 eV on Cu(111) [72], and 284.7 eV on Ni(111) [68]. The range of

Cathode lens spectromicroscopy: methodology and applications

• T. O. Menteş,
• G. Zamborlini,
• A. Sala and
• A. Locatelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1873–1886, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.198

• for graphene on Pt(111) and Ir(111) surfaces [61][62]. Importantly, no coincidence structures are observed in the LEED pattern, which exhibits only the first order graphene spots plus an extremely week moiré structure, identical to that observed on the flat phase of graphene on Ir(100). This finding

Restructuring of an Ir(210) electrode surface by potential cycling

• Khaled A. Soliman,
• Dieter M. Kolb,
• Ludwig A. Kibler and
• Timo Jacob

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1349–1356, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.148

• down in the presence of CO and H2, respectively. Bright spots in these images represent higher areas, while dark ones represent lower surface regions of Ir(210). In contrast to low-index Ir surfaces such as Ir(111) [26], the STM images in Figure 2a and Figure 3a do not show wide terraces separated by

Interaction of iron phthalocyanine with the graphene/Ni(111) system

• Lorenzo Massimi,
• Simone Lisi,
• Daniela Pacilè,
• Carlo Mariani and
• Maria Grazia Betti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 308–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.34

• (111). The results have been compared to the deposition of iron phthalocyanine on graphene/Ir(111), for which a higher decoupling of the organic molecule from the underlying metal is exerted by the graphene buffer layer. Keywords: angular-resolved photo-electron spectroscopy (ARPES); buffer layer

• to form ordered networks of metal atoms trapped in an organic cage, which is a suitable configuration for the realization of spin-based qubits [10]. Interesting and exemplary cases are represented by MPcs adsorbed on graphene grown on Ni(111) and Ir(111) surfaces. In fact, graphene on Ni(111) and on

• Ir(111) represents two opposite sides of the graphene–metal interaction: a strong interaction with a strong modification of the free-standing graphene band structure is observed on Ni [11], while a low interaction with an almost unperturbed Dirac cone is present if graphene is grown on Ir [12][13

Core level binding energies of functionalized and defective graphene

• Toma Susi,
• Markus Kaukonen,
• Paula Havu,
• Mathias P. Ljungberg,
• Paola Ayala and
• Esko I. Kauppinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 121–132, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.12

• ]. Other authors have measured the C 1s at 284.15 eV [27] on Ir(111) and 284.2 eV on Au-intercalated Ni(111) [28], but again, charge transfer very likely contributes to the results. Since no conclusive XPS data on freestanding monolayered graphene is available so far, we have chosen to use 284.4 eV as the

Modeling noncontact atomic force microscopy resolution on corrugated surfaces

• Kristen M. Burson,
• Mahito Yamamoto and
• William G. Cullen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 230–237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.26

• presented by Sun et. al in describing the attenuation in the graphene moiré structure on Ir(111) due to the vdW interaction between the tip and the underlying Ir(111) structure [29]. While attenuation is to be expected for increased distance between the tip and the sample, we emphasize that the degree of

Intermolecular vs molecule–substrate interactions: A combined STM and theoretical study of supramolecular phases on graphene/Ru(0001)

• Michael Roos,
• Benedikt Uhl,
• Daniela Künzel,
• Harry E. Hoster,
• Axel Groß and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 365–373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.42

• monolayer films were previously reported also for metal deposition on such surfaces, e.g., for Ir on graphene/Ir(111) [19][20] or for Pt on graphene/Ru(0001) [21][22][23]. In this paper we extend this study, by comparing the adsorption behavior of two different types of molecular systems with distinctly