Controlling the nanoscale rippling of graphene with SiO2 nanoparticles

The direct growth of planar and vertical graphene on Si(100) via microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition: synthesis conditions effects

In the present research, graphene was synthesized directly on a Si(100) substrate via combining direct microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and protective enclosure. The graphene flake orientation was controlled using suitable synthesis conditions. We revealed that high processing temperatures and plasma powers promote vertical graphene growth. The main related physical mechanisms were raised temperature gradients, thermal stress, ion bombardment, and elevated electric field effects. Lowering the synthesis temperature and plasma power resulted in planar graphene growth. An elevated synthesis temperature and long deposition time decreased the graphene layer number as the carbon desorption rate increased with temperature. Dominating defect types and their relationships to the graphene growth conditions were revealed. Planar graphene n-type self-doping was found due to substrate-based charge transfer. In the case of vertical graphene, the increased contact area between graphene and air resulted in the adsorption of more molecules, resulting in no doping or p-type doping.

In the present research, graphene was synthesized directly on a Si(100) substrate via combining direct microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and protective enclosure.

Coexistence of Van Hove singularities and pseudomagnetic fields in modulated graphene bilayer

The stacking and bending of graphene are trivial but extremely powerful agents of control over graphene's manifold physics. By changing the twist angle, one can drive the system over a plethora of exotic states via strong electron correlation, thanks to the moiré superlattice potentials, while the periodic or triaxial strains induce discretization of the band structure into Landau levels without the need for an external magnetic field. We fabricated a hybrid system comprising both the stacking and bending tuning knobs. We have grown the graphene monolayers by chemical vapor deposition, using ¹²C and ¹³C precursors, which enabled us to individually address the layers through Raman spectroscopy mapping. We achieved the long-range spatial modulation by sculpturing the top layer (¹³C) over uniform magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on the bottom layer (¹²C). An atomic force microscopy study revealed that the top layer tends to relax into pyramidal corrugations with C₃ axial symmetry at the position of the NPs, which have been widely reported as a source of large pseudomagnetic fields (PMFs) in graphene monolayers. The modulated graphene bilayer (MGBL) also contains a few micrometer large domains, with the twist angle ∼10°, which were identified via extreme enhancement of the Raman intensity of the G-mode due to formation of van Hove singularities (VHSs). We thereby conclude that the twist-induced VHSs coexist with the PMFs generated in the strained pyramidal objects without mutual disturbance. The graphene bilayer modulated with magnetic NPs is a non-trivial hybrid system that accommodates features of twist-induced VHSs and PMFs in environs of giant classical spins.

Electronic and mechanical response of graphene on BaTiO3 at martensitic phase transitions

Graphene is extremely sensitive to optical, electrical and mechanical stimuli, which cause a significant variation of the band structure, thus the physiochemical properties. In our work, we report on changes of strain and doping in graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition on copper and transferred onto a BaTiO₃(1 0 0) (BTO) single-crystal. The BTO is known as a ferroelectric material, which undergoes several thermoelastic martensitic phase transitions when it is cooled from 300 K to 10 K. In order to enhance the very weak Raman signal of the graphene monolayer (ML) on the BTO, a 15 nm thin gold layer was deposited on top of the graphene ML to benefit from the surface enhanced Raman scattering. Using temperature dependent Raman spectral mapping, the principal Raman modes (D, G and 2D) of the graphene ML were followed in situ. From a careful analysis of these Raman modes, we conclude that the induced strain and doping of the graphene ML follows the martensitic phase transitions of the BTO crystal. Our study suggests potential exploitation of the graphene as a highly sensitive opto-mechanical sensor or transducer.

Visualising the strain distribution in suspended two-dimensional materials under local deformation

We demonstrate the use of combined simultaneous atomic force microscopy (AFM) and laterally resolved Raman spectroscopy to study the strain distribution around highly localised deformations in suspended two-dimensional materials. Using the AFM tip as a nanoindentation probe, we induce localised strain in suspended few-layer graphene, which we adopt as a two-dimensional membrane model system. Concurrently, we visualise the strain distribution under and around the AFM tip in situ using hyperspectral Raman mapping via the strain-dependent frequency shifts of the few-layer graphene's G and 2D Raman bands. Thereby we show how the contact of the nm-sized scanning probe tip results in a two-dimensional strain field with μm dimensions in the suspended membrane. Our combined AFM/Raman approach thus adds to the critically required instrumental toolbox towards nanoscale strain engineering of two-dimensional materials.

Substrate-Induced Graphene Chemistry for 2D Superlattices with Tunable Periodicities

2D graphene superlattices are fabricated down to the nanometer scale by a universal substrate-engineering approach, based on substrate-induced site-selective chemical reactions on the graphene basal plane. Various 2D graphene superlattices with tunable periodicities and chemical functionalities are made by using SiO2 nanosphere assemblies and other nanostructured substrates.

Determination of the STM tip-graphene repulsive forces by comparative STM and AFM measurements on suspended graphene

Repulsive forces of the order of 10⁻⁸ N occur between the STM tip and graphene under ambient imaging conditions.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering from AgNP-graphene-AgNP sandwiched nanostructures

We developed a facile approach toward hybrid AgNP-graphene-AgNP sandwiched structures using self-organized monolayered AgNPs from wet chemical synthesis for the optimized enhancement of the Raman response of monolayer graphene. We demonstrate that the Raman scattering of graphene can be enhanced 530 fold in the hybrid structure. The Raman enhancement is sensitively dependent on the hybrid structure, incident angle, and excitation wavelength. A systematic simulation is performed, which well explains the enhancement mechanism. Our study indicates that the enhancement resulted from the plasmonic coupling between the AgNPs on the opposite sides of graphene. Our approach towards ideal substrates offers great potential to produce a "hot surface" for enhancing the Raman response of two-dimensional materials.

Graphene wrinkling induced by monodisperse nanoparticles: facile control and quantification

Controlled wrinkling of single-layer graphene (1-LG) at nanometer scale was achieved by introducing monodisperse nanoparticles (NPs), with size comparable to the strain coherence length, underneath the 1-LG. Typical fingerprint of the delaminated fraction is identified as substantial contribution to the principal Raman modes of the 1-LG (G and G'). Correlation analysis of the Raman shift of the G and G' modes clearly resolved the 1-LG in contact and delaminated from the substrate, respectively. Intensity of Raman features of the delaminated 1-LG increases linearly with the amount of the wrinkles, as determined by advanced processing of atomic force microscopy data. Our study thus offers universal approach for both fine tuning and facile quantification of the graphene topography up to ~60% of wrinkling.

The influence of nanoscale roughness and substrate chemistry on the frictional properties of single and few layer graphene

Nanoscale carbon lubricants such as graphene, have garnered increased interest as protective surface coatings for devices, but its tribological properties have been shown to depend on its interactions with the underlying substrate surface and its degree of surface conformity. This conformity is especially of interest as real interfaces exhibit roughness on the order of ∼10 nm that can dramatically impact the contact area between the graphene film and the substrate. To examine the combined effects of surface interaction strength and roughness on the frictional properties of graphene, a combination of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Raman microspectroscopy has been used to explore substrate interactions and the frictional properties of single and few-layer graphene as a coating on silica nanoparticle films, which yield surfaces that mimic the nanoscaled asperities found in realistic devices. The interactions between the graphene and the substrate have been controlled by comparing their binding to hydrophilic (silanol terminated) and hydrophobic (octadecyltrichlorosilane modified) silica surfaces. AFM measurements revealed that graphene only partially conforms to the rough surfaces, with decreasing conformity, as the number of layers increase. Under higher mechanical loading the graphene conformity could be reversibly increased, allowing for a local estimation of the out-of-plane bending modulus of the film. The frictional properties were also found to depend on the number of layers, with the largest friction observed on single layers, ultimately decreasing to that of bulk graphite. This trend however, was found to disappear, depending on the tip-sample contact area and interfacial shear strain of the graphene associated with its adhesion to the substrate.

Recent advances in the fabrication and structure-specific applications of graphene-based inorganic hybrid membranes

The preparation and applications of graphene (G)-based materials are attracting increasing interests due to their unique electronic, optical, magnetic, thermal, and mechanical properties. Compared to G-based hybrid and composite materials, G-based inorganic hybrid membrane (GIHM) offers enormous advantages ascribed to their facile synthesis, planar two-dimensional multilayer structure, high specific surface area, and mechanical stability, as well as their unique optical and mechanical properties. In this review, we report the recent advances in the technical fabrication and structure-specific applications of GIHMs with desirable thickness and compositions. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the methods utilized for creating GIHMs are discussed in detail. Finally, the potential applications and key challenges of GIHMs for future technical applications are mentioned.

The structure and properties of graphene on gold nanoparticles

Graphene covered metal nanoparticles constitute a novel type of hybrid material, which provides a unique platform to study plasmonic effects, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and metal-graphene interactions at the nanoscale. Such a hybrid material is fabricated by transferring graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition onto closely spaced gold nanoparticles produced on a silica wafer. The morphology and physical properties of nanoparticle-supported graphene are investigated by atomic force microscopy, optical reflectance spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS), and confocal Raman spectroscopy. This study shows that the graphene Raman peaks are enhanced by a factor which depends on the excitation wavelength, in accordance with the surface plasmon resonance of the gold nanoparticles, and also on the graphene-nanoparticle distance which is tuned by annealing at moderate temperatures. The observed SERS activity is correlated with the nanoscale corrugation of graphene. STM and STS measurements show that the local density of electronic states in graphene is modulated by the underlying gold nanoparticles.