Novel nanostructures and materials enabled by graphene embedding and sandwiching

Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)

Graphene--the one-atom-thick sheet of carbon--is the most famous of 2D materials due to its unique electronic properties and mechanical strength. However, its chemical inertness makes graphene also an excellent nearly electron-transparent support for other materials and nanostructures. In this presentation, I will give an overview of our recent work, partially enabled by a unique interconnected vacuum system containing an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (Nion UltraSTEM 100) with a unique objective area that allows sample cleaning via laser, in situ chemical experiments, and direct vacuum transfer to an atomic force microscope (AFSEM by GeTEC Microscopy), an argon glove box, a chamber for alteration and growth of materials equipped with a plasma ion source and evaporators, and long-term vacuum sample storage.

Specifically, I will show that otherwise unstable structures such as a monolayer of fullerenes [1], 2D CuI [2] and small noble gas clusters [3] can be stabilized in the van der Waals gap between two graphene sheets allowing also their atomic-resolution imaging. If time allows, I will further demonstrate that defect-engineering of graphene [4] enables its substitutional heteroatom doping [5] and growth of nanoclusters with a well-defined concentration and a narrow size distribution, as well as the direct correlation of its atomic structure and mechanical properties.

References

[1] Mirzayev et al., Sci. Adv. 3, e1700176 (2017)
[2] Mustonen et al., Adv. Mater., 202106922 (2022)
[3] Längle et al., Microsc. Microanal. 26 S2, 1086-1089 (2020)
[4] Trentino et al., Nano Lett. 21, 5179-5185 (2021)
[5] Inani et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 123, 13136-13140 (2019); Zagler et al., 2D Mater. 9, 035009 (2022); Trentino et al., 2D Mater. 9, 025011 (2022)