Interfacial carbon nanoplatelet formation by ion irradiation of graphene on Iridium(111)

Author(s)
Charlotte Herbig, E. H. Ahlgren, Wouter Jolie, Carsten Busse, Jani Kotakoski, Arkady V. Krasheninnikov, Thomas Michely
Abstract

We expose epitaxial graphene (Gr) on Ir(111) to low-energy noble gas ion irradiation and investigate by scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic simulations the behavior of C atoms detached from Gr due to ion impacts. Consistent with our density functional theory calculations, upon annealing Gr nanoplatelets nucleate at the Gr/Ir(111) interface from trapped C atoms initially displaced with momentum toward the substrate. Making use of the nanoplatelet formation phenomenon, we measure the trapping yield as a function of ion energy and species and compare the values to those obtained using molecular dynamics simulations. Thereby, complementary to the sputtering yield, the trapping yield is established as a quantity characterizing the response of supported 2D materials to ion exposure. Our findings shed light on the microscopic mechanisms of defect production in supported 2D materials under ion irradiation and pave the way toward precise control of such systems by ion beam engineering.

Organisation(s)
Physics of Nanostructured Materials
External organisation(s)
Universität zu Köln, University of Helsinki, Aalto University
Journal
ACS Nano
Volume
8
Pages
12208-12218
No. of pages
11
ISSN
1936-0851
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/nn503874n
Publication date
2014
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
210006 Nanotechnology, 103008 Experimental physics, 103009 Solid state physics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Engineering(all), Physics and Astronomy(all), Materials Science(all)
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/interfacial-carbon-nanoplatelet-formation-by-ion-irradiation-of-graphene-on-iridium111(c4a21603-c78e-4ddc-a779-c2fd108215fd).html