Atomic precision materials engineering (ATMEN)

Atomic precision materials engineering (ATMEN)

2017–2022

Despite more than fifty years of scientific progress since Richard Feynman's 1959 vision for nanotechnology, there is only one way to manipulate individual atoms in materials: scanning tunneling microscopy. Since the late 1980s, its atomically sharp tip has been used to move atoms over clean metal surfaces held at cryogenic temperatures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy, on the other hand, has been able to resolve atoms only more recently by focusing the electron beam with sub-atomic precision. This is especially useful in the two-dimensional form of hexagonally bonded carbon called graphene, which has superb electronic and mechanical properties. Several ways to further engineer those have been proposed, including by doping the structure with substitutional heteroatoms such as boron, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. My recent discovery that the scattering of the energetic imaging electrons can cause a silicon impurity to move through the graphene lattice has revealed a potential for atomically precise manipulation using the Ångström-sized electron probe. To develop this into a practical technique, improvements in the description of beam-induced displacements, advances in heteroatom implantation, and a concerted effort towards the automation of manipulations are required. My project tackles these in a multidisciplinary effort combining innovative computational techniques with pioneering experiments in an instrument where a low-energy ion implantation chamber is directly connected to an advanced electron microscope. To demonstrate the power of the method, I will prototype an atomic memory with an unprecedented memory density, and create heteroatom quantum corrals optimized for their plasmonic properties. The capability for atom-scale engineering of covalent materials opens a new vista for nanotechnology, pushing back the boundaries of the possible and allowing a plethora of materials science questions to be studied at the ultimate level of control.

Please see also our public outreach website.

Funder: European Research Council

Project identifier: 756277

Principal investigator: T. Susi

Project publications

2021

Madsen, J., Pennycook, T. J., & Susi, T. (2021). ab initio description of bonding for transmission electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy, 231, Article 113253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2021.113253

Tulić, S., Waitz, T., Čaplovičová, M., Habler, G., Vretenár, V., Susi, T., & Skákalová, V. (2021). Catalytic graphitization of single-crystal diamond. Carbon, 185, 300-313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2021.08.082

Elibol, K., Mangler, C., O'Regan, D. D., Mustonen, K., Eder, D., Meyer, J. C., Kotakoski, J., Hobbs, R. G., Susi, T., & Bayer, B. C. (2021). Single Indium Atoms and Few-Atom Indium Clusters Anchored onto Graphene via Silicon Heteroatoms. ACS Nano, 15(9), 14373–14383. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c03535

Postl, A., Madsen, J., Hilgert, P. P. P., Schreiber, M. T., Kotakoski, J., & Susi, T. (2021). Temperature-dependent displacement cross section of graphene and its impurities: measuring the carbon adatom migration barrier. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 27(S1), 3340. https://doi.org/10.1017/S143192762101148X

Markevich, A., Hudak, B. M., Madsen, J., Song, J., Snijders, P. C., Lupini, A. R., & Susi, T. (2021). Mechanism of Electron-Beam Manipulation of Single-Dopant Atoms in Silicon. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 125(29), 16041–16048. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c03549, https://doi.org/https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1543235

Zachman, M. J., Madsen, J., Zhang, X., Ajayan, P. M., Susi, T., & Chi, M. (2021). Interferometric 4D-STEM for Lattice Distortion and Interlayer Spacing Measurements of Bilayer and Trilayer 2D Materials. Small, 17(28), Article 2100388. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202100388

Trentino, A., Madsen, J., Mittelberger, A., Mangler, C., Susi, T., Mustonen, K., & Kotakoski, J. (2021). Atomic-Level Structural Engineering of Graphene on a Mesoscopic Scale. Nano Letters, 21(12), 5179-5185. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01214

Leuthner, G. T., Susi, T., Mangler, C., Meyer, J. C., & Kotakoski, J. (2021). Chemistry at graphene edges in the electron microscope. 2D Materials, 8(3), Article 035023. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/abf624

Inani, H., Shin, D. H., Madsen, J., Jeong, H. J., Kwon, M. H., McEvoy, N., Susi, T., Mangler, C., Lee, S. W., Mustonen, K., & Kotakoski, J. (2021). Step-By-Step Atomic Insights into Structural Reordering from 2D to 3D MoS₂. Advanced Functional Materials, 31(13), Article 2008395. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202008395

Madsen, J., & Susi, T. (2021). The abTEM code: Transmission electron microscopy from first principles. Open Research Europe, 1, Article 24. https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13015.2

2020

Madsen, J., & Susi, T. (2020). abTEM: ab Initio Transmission Electron Microscopy Image Simulation. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 26(S2), 448-450. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620014701

Langer, R., Błoński, P., Hofer, C., Lazar, P., Mustonen, K., Meyer, J. C., Susi, T., & Otyepka, M. (2020). Tailoring Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Graphene by Phosphorus Doping. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 12(30), 34074-34085. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c07564

2019

Mustonen, K., Markevich, A., Tripathi, M., Inani, H., Ding, E. X., Hussain, A., Mangler, C., Kauppinen, E. I., Kotakoski, J., & Susi, T. (2019). Electron-Beam Manipulation of Silicon Impurities in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. Advanced Functional Materials, 29(52), Article 1901327. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201901327

Hofer, C., Skákalová, V., Görlich, T., Tripathi, M., Mittelberger, A., Mangler, C., Monazam, M. R. A., Susi, T., Kotakoski, J., & Meyer, J. C. (2019). Direct imaging of light-element impurities in graphene reveals triple-coordinated oxygen. Nature Communications, 10(1), Article 4570. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12537-3

Zoppellaro, G., Bakandritsos, A., Tuček, J., Błoński, P., Susi, T., Lazar, P., Bad'ura, Z., Steklý, T., Opletalová, A., Otyepka, M., & Zbořil, R. (2019). Microwave Energy Drives “On–Off–On” Spin-Switch Behavior in Nitrogen-Doped Graphene. Advanced Materials, 31(37), Article 1902587. https://doi.org/11353/10.1083353, https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201902587

Chirita Mihaila, A. I., Susi, T., & Kotakoski, J. (2019). Influence of temperature on the displacement threshold energy in graphene. Scientific Reports, 9(1), Article 12981. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49565-4

Susi, T., Lehnert, T., Kaiser, U., Meyer, J., & Kotakoski, J. (2019). Quantifying Elastic and Inelastic Electron Irradiation Damage in Transmission Electron Microscopy of 2D Materials. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 25(S2), 454-455. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619003003

Madsen, J., Postl, A., & Susi, T. (2019). Automated Real-time Analysis of Atomic-resolution STEM Images. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 25(S2), 166-167. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619001569

Susi, T., Tripathi, M., Mustonen, K., Markevich, A., Mangler, C., Su, C., Li, J., Idrobo, J. C., Meyer, J., & Kotakoski, J. (2019). Electron-Beam Manipulation of Lattice Impurities in Graphene and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 25(S2), 938-939. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619005427

Susi, T., Meyer, J. C., & Kotakoski, J. (2019). Quantifying transmission electron microscopy irradiation effects using two-dimensional materials. Nature Reviews Physics, 1(6), 397-405. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-019-0058-y