We report measurements of the electronic structure and surface morphology of exfoliated graphene on an insulating substrate using angle-resolved photoemission and low energy electron diffraction. Our results show that although exfoliated graphene is microscopically corrugated, the valence band retains a massless fermionic dispersion, with a Fermi velocity of ~10^6 m/s. We observe a close relationship between the morphology and electronic structure, which suggests that controlling the interaction between graphene and the supporting substrate is essential for graphene device applications.
At a single atom thick, it is challenging to distinguish graphene from its substrate using conventional techniques. In this paper we show that friction force microscopy (FFM) is a simple and quick technique for identifying graphene on a range of samples, from growth substrates to rough insulators. We show that FFM is particularly effective for characterising graphene grown on copper where it can correlate the graphene growth to the three-dimensional surface topography and map the crystallographic orientation of the graphene nondestructively, reproducibly and at high resolution. We expect FFM t…
Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a powerful tool for probing nanometer-scale ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Hysteretic switching of the phase and amplitude of the PFM response are believed to be the hallmark of ferroelectric and piezoelectric behavior respectively. However, the application of PFM is limited by the fact that similar hysteretic effects may also arise from mechanisms not related to ferroelectricity or piezoelectricity. In this paper we report our studies on regular glass slides that show ferroelectric-like signal without being ferroelectric and frequently used…
Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) was applied to investigate the donor distribution in SrTiO3 single crystals. On the surfaces of Nb- and La-doped SrTiO3, structures with different fluorescence intensities and lifetimes were found that could be related to different concentrations of Ti3+. Furthermore, the inhomogeneous distribution of donors caused a non-uniform conductivity of the surface, which complicates the production of potential electronic devices by the deposition of oxide thin films on top of doped single crystals. Hence, we propose FLIM as a convenient technique (length…
Signal formation mechanism of Piezoresponse Force Microscopy of piezoelectric surface layers and thin films on stiff and elastically matched substrates is analyzed and thickness dependence of effective piezoelectric response, object transfer function components and Rayleigh two-point resolution are derived. Obtained exact series and simple Pade approximations can be applied for the effective piezoresponse analytical calculations in the case of films capped on different substrates. The effective piezoresponse is thickness dependent for piezoelectric films on substrates with low dielectric permi…
We report the synthesis of single and bi layer graphene films by low pressure chemical vapor deposition technique on Cu and Au substrates. The as grown films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The large lateral area graphene deposited on Cu can easily be transferred on Si SiO2. In the case of Au substrate both the adsorption and diffusion-precipitation leads to the growth of graphene.
We report on detailed microscopy studies of graphene and few-layer-graphene produced by mechanical exfoliation on various semi-conducting substrates. We demonstrate the possibility to prepare and analyze graphene on (001)-GaAs, manganese p-doped (001)-GaAs and InGaAs substrates. The morphology of graphene on these substrates was investigated by scanning electron and atomic force microscopy and compared to layers on silicon oxide. It was found that graphene sheets strongly follow the texture of the sustaining substrates independent on doping, polarity or roughness. Furthermore resist residues e…
Charge-density-waves (CDW) which occur mainly in low-dimensional systems have a macroscopic wave function similar to superfluids and superconductors. Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition is observed in superfluids and superconductors, but the presence of KT transition in ultra-thin CDW systems has been an open problem. We report the direct real-space observation of CDWs with new order states in mono-, bi-, and tri-layer 1T-TaS_2 crystal by using a low voltage scanning-transmission-electron-microscope (STEM) without a substrate. This method is ideal to observe local atomic structures and possibl…
Thin crystalline layers of TaAs Weyl semimetal (9 and 18 nm thick) are grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(001) substrates. The (001) planes of the tetragonal TaAs lattice are parallel to the GaAs(001) substrate, but the corresponding in-plane crystallographic directions of the substrate and the layer are rotated by 45°. In spite of a substantial lattice mismatch (about 19%) between GaAs(001) substrate and TaAs epilayer no misfit dislocations are observed at the GaAs(001)/TaAs(001) interface. Only stacking fault defects in TaAs are detected with transmission electron microscopy. Thorough X…
Colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ (LSMO) thin films have been grown under tensile strains on (100)-SrTiO$_{3}$ substrates and compressive strains on (100)-LaAlO$_{3}$ and (110)-NdGaO$_{3}$ substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Using magnetic force microscopy (MFM), a "feather-like" magnetic pattern, characteristic of films with an in-plane magnetization, is observed for films deposited on both SrTiO$_{3}$ and NdGaO$_{3}$ while a "bubble" magnetic pattern, typical of films with an out-of plane magnetization, is recorded for LaAlO$_{3}$. We show that the shape of the…
Graphene grown epitaxially on SiC has been proposed as a material for carbon-based electronics. Understanding the interface between graphene and the SiC substrate will be important for future applications. We report the ability to image the interface structure beneath single-layer graphene using scanning tunneling microscopy. Such imaging is possible because the graphene appears transparent at energies of 1 eV above or below the Fermi energy. Our analysis of calculations based on density functional theory shows how this transparency arises from the electronic structure of a graphene layer on a…
Graphene, a monolayer of carbon atoms packed into a two-dimensional crystal structure, attracted intense attention owing to its unique structure and optical, electronic properties. Recent advances in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have led to the batch production of high quality graphene on metal foils. However, further applications are required in the way these graphenes are transferred from their growth substrates onto the target substrate. Here, we report a sublimable carrier method that allows the graphene to be transferred with high quality onto arbitrary substrates, including semiconduc…
The formation of various uncommon shaped voids along with regular triangular and square voids in the epitaxial 3C-SiC films on Si has been investigated by optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Heteroepitaxial growth of 3C-SiC films on Si (001) and (111) substrates has been performed using hexamethyldisilane in a resistance-heated chemical vapor deposition reactor. The influence of the orientation of the Si substrate in determining the shape of the voids has clearly been observed. In addition, the growth period and the growth-temperature have been considered as the major parameters to…
Using scanning tunneling microscopy at low temperatures we investigated the adsorbate system Cu(111)-Cs for various cesium coverages. At low coverages we observe a hexagonally ordered Cs adsorption layer with a mutual adsorbate distance of 1.1 nm. This distance is discussed in terms of a commensurate adsorption superstructure which is stabilized by long-range adsorbate interactions mediated by Cu(111) surface state electrons. Intermediate coverages are characterized by incommensurate superstructures which are rotated with respect to the substrate lattice. The rotation behavior at 9K follows a …
To realize a thermoelectric power generator, typically a junction between two materials with different Seebeck coefficient needs to be fabricated. Such difference in Seebeck coefficients can be induced by doping, which renders difficult when working with two-dimensional (2d) materials. Here, we employ substrate effects to form a thermoelectric junction in ultra-thin few-layer MoS2 films. We investigated the junctions with a combination of scanning photocurrent microscopy and scanning thermal microscopy. This allows us to reveal that thermoelectric junctions form across the substrate-engineered…
Graphene based sheets have stimulated great interest due to their superior mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. A general visualization method that allows quick observation of these single atomic layers would be highly desirable as it can greatly facilitate sample evaluation and manipulation, and provide immediate feedback to improve synthesis and processing strategies. Here we report that graphene based sheets can be made highly visible under a fluorescence microscope by quenching the emission from a dye coating, which can be conveniently removed afterwards by rinsing without disrup…
We present an investigation of the atomic and electronic structure of graphene monolayer islands on the 6H-SiC(000-1)(3x3) (SiC(3x3)) surface reconstruction using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS). The orientation of the graphene lattice changes from one island to the other. In the STM images, this rotational disorder gives rise to various superlattices with periods in the nm range. We show that those superlattices are moiré patterns (MPs) and we correlate their apparent height with the stacking at the graphene/SiC(3x3) interface. The contrast of the MP in STM images c…
We show that it is possible to prepare and identify ultra--thin sheets of graphene on crystalline substrates such as SrTiO$_3$, TiO$_2$, Al$_2$O$_3$ and CaF$_2$ by standard techniques (mechanical exfoliation, optical and atomic force microscopy). On the substrates under consideration we find a similar distribution of single, bi- and few layer graphene and graphite flakes as with conventional SiO$_2$ substrates. The optical contrast $C$ of a single graphene layer on any of those substrates is determined by calculating the optical properties of a two-dimensional metallic sheet on the surface of …
We investigate nanoscale local anodic oxidation (LAO) on hydrogen-intercalated graphene grown by controlled sublimation of silicon carbide (SiC). Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) was used as a lithographic and characterization tool in order to investigate the local properties of the nanofabricated structures. The anomalous thickness observed after the graphene oxidation process is linked to the impact of LAO on the substrate. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was employed to demonstrate the presence of two oxidation regimes depending on the applied bias. We show that partial and total etching of monolay…
Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) couple the direction of their spontaneous electric polarization to the direction of tilt of their optic axis. Consequently, reversal of the electric polarization by an electric field gives rise to an immediate and lasting optical response when an appropriately aligned FLC is observed between crossed polarizers, with one field direction yielding a dark image, and the opposite direction yielding a bright image. Here this peculiar electro-optic response is used to image, with high optical contrast, 180° ferroelectric domains in a crystalline substrate of magne…
HRTEM, nano-beam electronic diffraction, energy dispersive X-rays scanning spectroscopy, Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) and FerroMagnetic Resonance (FMR) techniques are used in view of comparing (static and dynamic) magnetic and structural properties of Co2MnGe (13 nm)/Al2O3 (3 nm)/Co (13 nm) tunnel magnetic junctions (TMJ), deposited on various single crystalline substrates (a-plane sapphire, MgO(100) and Si(111)). They allow for providing a correlation between these magnetic properties and the fine structure investigated at atomic scale. The Al2O3 tunnel barrier is always amorphous and …
A simple method to disperse individual single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT ) on an atomically flat substrate is presented. Proper tuning of ac modes of atomic force microscopes(AFM) is discussed. This is needed to discriminate between individual nanotubes and very small bundles. The distribution of lengths of the nanotubes measured by these methods is reported.
A 30 nm Pt thin film evaporated onto a Si wafer was sputtered by 8 keV Ar$^{+}$ ions at various ion doses. The evolution of the modified sputtered films was monitored by atomic force microscopy (AFM), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). The most interesting observation was the formation of mound-like structures on the metal surface. Morphological data were quantitatively analysed within the framework of the dynamic scaling theory. Analyses of the height-height correlation function for different doses yield roughness exponents $…
We have implemented three different optical methods to quantitatively assess the thickness of thin GaSe flakes transferred on both transparent substrates, like Gel-Film, or SiO2/Si substrates. We show how their apparent color can be an efficient way to make a quick rough estimation of the thickness of the flakes. This method is more effective for SiO2/Si substrates as the thickness dependent color change is more pronounced on these substrates than on transparent substrates. On the other hand, for transparent substrates, the transmittance of the flakes in the blue region of the visible spectrum…
Graphene devices require electric contacts with metals, particularly with gold. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies of electron local density of states performed on mono-, bi- and tri- graphene layer deposited on metallic conductive Au/Cr/SiO2/Si substrate shows that gold substrate causes the Fermi level shift downwards which means that holes are donated by metal substrate to graphene which becomes p-type doped. These experimental results are in good accordance with recently published density function theory calculations. The estimated positions of the Dirac point show that the higher numb…
VO2 is a much-discussed material for oxide electronics and neuromorphic computing applications. Here, heteroepitaxy of vanadium dioxide (VO2) was realized on top of oxide nanosheets that cover either the amorphous silicon dioxide surfaces of Si substrates or X-ray transparent silicon nitride membranes. The out-of-plane orientation of the VO2 thin films was controlled at will between (011)M1/(110)R and (-402)M1/(002)R by coating the bulk substrates with Ti0.87O2 and NbWO6 nanosheets, respectively, prior to VO2 growth. Temperature dependent X-ray diffraction and automated crystal orientation map…
Self-assembled Ge islands were grown on stripe-patterned Si (001) substrates by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The surface morphology obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images (TEM) shows that the Ge islands are preferentially grown at the sidewalls of pure Si stripes along [-110] direction at 650o C or along the trenches, whereas most of the Ge islands are formed on the top terrace when the patterned stripes are covered by a strained GeSi buffer layer. Reducing the growth temperature to 600oC results in a nucleation of Ge islan…
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an important class of materials that present intriguing opportunities in the fields of sensing, gas storage, catalysis, and optoelectronics. Very recently, two-dimensional (2D) MOFs have been proposed as a flexible material platform for realizing exotic quantum phases including topological and anomalous quantum Hall insulators. Experimentally, direct synthesis of 2D MOFs has been essentially confined to metal substrates, where the interaction with the substrate masks the intrinsic electronic properties of the MOF. Here, we demonstrate synthesis of 2D honeyco…
Based on electron-beam direct writing on the SiOx/Si substrates, favorable absorption sites for ferric cations (Fe3+ ions) were created on the surface oxide layer. This allowed Fe3+-assisted self-assembled arrays of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) probes to be produced. Auger investigation indicated that the incident energetic electrons depleted oxygen, creating more dangling bonds around Si atoms at the surface of the SiOx layer. This resulted in a distinct difference in the friction forces from unexposed regions as measured by lateral force microscopy (LFM). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) …
A major issue in the development of the technology of nitride based materials is the choice of substrate. The structural and optical properties of the layers are intimately connected to the substrate material used in the epitaxial growth. Key issues include lattice matching of substrate and epitaxial layer and the difference in the thermal expansion between the substrate and epitaxial layer. Due to the extremely high vapor pressure of nitrogen over Gallium Nitride (GaN), pure GaN substrate are very difficult to produce and currently almost all nitride-based device are fabricated by hetero-epit…
Single atoms can be considered as basic objects for electron microscopy to test the microscope performance and basic concepts for modeling of image contrast. In this work high-resolution transmission electron microscopy was applied to image single platinum atoms in an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope. The atoms are deposited on a self-assembled monolayer substrate which induces only negligible contrast. Single-atom contrast simulations were performed on the basis of Weickenmeier-Kohl and Doyle-Turner scattering factors. Experimental and simulated intensities are in full ag…
Indium selenide (InSe), as a novel van der Waals layered semiconductor, has attracted a large research interest thanks to its excellent optical and electrical properties in the ultra-thin limit. Here, we discuss four different optical methods to quantitatively identify the thickness of thin InSe flakes on various substrates, such as SiO2/Si or transparent polymeric substrates. In the case of thin InSe deposited on a transparent substrate, the transmittance of the flake in the blue region of the visible spectrum can be used to estimate the thickness. For InSe supported by SiO2/Si, the thickness…
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffraction (XPS, XPD) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) have been used for study of NbOx-structures on the Nb(110) surface. It is shown that niobium atoms are ordered to form a two-dimensional superstructure with equidistant spacing between the chains of niobium atoms. Chemical shifts of Nb3d- and O1s-levels demonstrate that the oxide layer corresponds to niobium monoxide NbO and the most part of oxygen in chemisorbed state is localized on the surface. A model of quasi-ordered structure of NbO on the Nb(110) surface is proposed.
We have investigated ten standard single crystal substrates of complex oxides on the account of their applicability in the Raman spectroscopy based thin film research. In this study we suggest a spectra normalization procedure that utilizes a comparison of the substrate Raman spectra to those of well-established Raman reference materials. We demonstrate that MgO, LaGaO3, (LaAlO3)_0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)_0.7 (LSAT), DyScO3, YAlO3, and LaAlO3 can be of potential use for a Raman based thin film research. At the same time TiO2 (rutile), NdGaO3, SrLaAlO4, and SrTiO3 single crystals exhibit multiple phonon m…
The fabrication of epitaxial graphene (EG) on SiC substrate by annealing has attracted a lot of interest as it may speed up the application of graphene for future electronic devices. The interaction of EG and the SiC substrate is critical to its electronic and physical properties. In this work, Raman spectroscopy was used to study the structure of EG and its interaction with SiC substrate. All the Raman bands of EG blue shift from that of bulk graphite and graphene made by micromechanical cleavage, which was attributed to the compressive strain induced by the substrate. A model containing 13 x…
The physical and electronic properties of ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) layered nanomaterials are highly related to their thickness. Therefore, the rapid and accurate identification of single- and few- to multi-layer nanosheets is essential to their fundamental study and practical applications. Here, a universal optical method has been developed for simple, rapid and reliable identification of single- to quindecuple-layer (1L-15L) 2D nanosheets, including graphene, MoS2, WSe2 and TaS2, on Si substrates coated with 90 nm or 300 nm SiO2. The optical contrast differences between the substrates a…
The magnetic microstructure and domain wall distribution of antiferromagnetic $α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ epitaxial layers is determined by statistical image analyses. Using dichroic spectro-microscopy images, we demonstrate that the domain structure is statistically invariant with thickness and that the antiferromagnetic domain structure of the thin films is inherited from the ferrimagnetic precursor layer one, even after complete transformation into antiferromagnetic $α$-Fe$_2$O$_3$. We show that modifying the magnetic domain structure of the precursor layer is a genuine way to tune the magnetic domain …
Nanocontact properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials are closely dependent on their unique nanomechanical systems, such as the number of atomic layers and the supporting substrate. Here, we report a direct observation of toplayer-dependent crystallographic orientation imaging of 2D materials with the transverse shear microscopy (TSM). Three typical nanomechanical systems, MoS2 on the amorphous SiO2/Si, graphene on the amorphous SiO2/Si, and MoS2 on the crystallized Al2O3, have been investigated in detail. This experimental observation reveals that puckering behaviour mainly occurs on the t…
The graphene moire structures on metals, as they demonstrate both long (moire) and short (atomic) scale ordered structures, are the ideal systems for the application of scanning probe methods. Here we present the complex studies of the graphene/Ir(111) system by means of 3D scanning tunnelling and atomic force microscopy/spectroscopy as well as Kelvin-probe force microscopy. All results clearly demonstrate a variation of the moire and atomic scale contrasts as a function of the bias voltage as well as the distance between the scanning probe and the sample, allowing to discriminate between topo…
The on-surface synthesis of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) allows for the fabrication of atomically precise narrow GNRs. Despite their exceptional properties which can be tuned by ribbon width and edge structure, significant challenges remain for GNR processing and characterization. In this contribution, we use Raman spectroscopy to characterize different types of GNRs on their growth substrate and to track their quality upon substrate transfer. We present a Raman-optimized (RO) device substrate and an optimized mapping approach that allows for acquisition of high-resolution Raman spectra, achiev…
Domain structures of 320 nm thin epitaxial films of ferroelectric PbTiO3 grown by MOCVD technique in identical conditions on SmScO3 and TbScO3 perovskite sub- strates have been investigated by Raman spectroscopy and piezoresponse force microscopy techniques. Phonon frequency shifts and typical domain structure motifs are discussed. The results reveal strikingly different domain structure architecture: domain structures of the PbTiO3 film grown on SmScO3 have dominantly a-domain orientation while strongly preferential c-domain orientation was found in the PbTiO3 film grown on the TbScO3 substra…
We have used a combined dynamic scanning tunneling and atomic force microscope to study the organisation of weakly bound adsorbed molecules on a graphite substrate. Specifically we have acquired images of islands of the perylene derivative molecules. These weakly bound molecules may be imaged in dynamic STM, in which the probe is oscillated above the surface. We show that molecular resolution may be readily attained and that a similar mode of imaging may be realised using conventional STM arrangement. We also show, using tunnelling spectroscopy, the presence of an energy gap for the adsorbed m…
Graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) were synthesized by atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition of propane (C3H8) employing Ni (salen) powder without the introduction of a substrate. The graphitic nature of the GNFs was examined by an X-ray diffraction method. Scanning electron microscopy results revealed that GNFs were stacked on top of one another and had a high aspect ratio. Transmission electron microscopy studies suggested that the GNFs were made up of a number of crystalline graphene layers, some of which were even single crystalline as evident from the selected area diffraction pattern. …
We demonstrate the growth of graphene nanocrystals by molecular beam methods that employ a solid carbon source, and that can be used on a diverse class of large area dielectric substrates. Characterization by Raman and Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure spectroscopies reveal a sp2 hybridized hexagonal carbon lattice in the nanocrystals. Lower growth rates favor the formation of higher quality, larger size multi-layer graphene crystallites on all investigated substrates. The surface morphology is determined by the roughness of the underlying substrate and graphitic monolayer steps are ob…
Aluminum nitride (AlN) is an emerging material for integrated quantum photonics with its excellent linear and nonlinear optical properties. In particular, its second-order nonlinear susceptibility $χ^{(2)}$ allows single-photon generation. We have grown AlN thin films on silicon nitride via reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The thin films have been characterized using X-ray diffraction, optical reflectometry, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The crystalline properties of the thin films have been improved by optimizing the nitrogen to argon ratio and the magnetron DC p…
In this study nanoscale structure and associated energy dissipation behavior of nanoparticulates of tungsten disulphide (WS2) and nanoparticles of gold (Au) were investigated by advanced scanning probe and electron microscopy techniques. WS2 nanoparticulates were deposited on silicon substrate by van der Waals adhesion transfer-deposition mechanisms. The templates of three size variants of Au nanoparticles, close packed (4-6nm), well dispersed (120-150nm) and clusters of (120-150 nm) nanoparticles were prepared on silicon substrates. Nano-microstructure, morphology, topography and phase shift …
Epitaxial Al/GaAs/Al structures having controlled thickness of high-quality GaAs and pristine interfaces have been fabricated using a wafer-bonding technique. III-V semiconductor/Al structures are grown by molecular beam epitaxy on III-V semiconductor substrates and bonded to silicon and sapphire. Selective etching is used to remove the III-V substrate followed by surface cleaning and superconductor regrowth, resulting in epitaxial Al/GaAs/Al tri-layers on sapphire or silicon substrates. Structures are characterized with reflection high energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, X-r…
Covalently functionalizing mechanical exfoliated monolayer and bilayer graphenides with λ-iodanes led to the discovery that the monolayers supported on a SiO2 substrate are considerably more reactive than bilayers as demonstrated by statistical Raman spectroscopy/microscopy. Supported by DFT calculations we show that ditopic addend binding leads to much more stable products than the corresponding monotopic reactions due to much lower lattice strain of the reactions products. The chemical nature of the substrate (graphene versus SiO2) plays a crucial role.14858-14862.
The growth and atomic/electronic structure of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown ErAs nanoparticles and nanorods embedded within a GaAs matrix are examined for the first time via cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (XSTM) and spectroscopy (XSTS). Cross sections enable the interrogation of the internal structure and are well suited for studying embedded nanostructures. The early stages of embedded ErAs nanostructure growth are examined via these techniques and compared with previous cross sectional TEM work. Tunneling spectroscopy I(V) for both ErAs nanoparticles and nanorods was also…
Spatially resolved elastic strain and lattice rotation at threading dislocations in HgCdTe/CdZnTe epilayers by dark-field X-ray microscopy
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility（欧洲同步辐射装置）；Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI（格勒诺布尔阿尔卑斯大学，CEA，LETI）；Karlsruhe Institute of Technology（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院）
We report on high-resolution photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopic and microscopic study of laterally coupled InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots by using a low-temperature near-field scanning optical microscope. We have observed slightly split PL spectra, which are associated with the bonding (symmetric) and antibonding (antisymmetric) energy states between two coupled quantum dots, closely located each other as confirmed by spatial mapping of the PL intensity. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with the simple theoretical calculations based on a two-dimensional potential …
Sub-monolayer physical layer deposition of Zn on Ag(111) substrate at room temperature is investigated using Auger electron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. We identified an original Zn highly-anisotropic structure in the shape of finger-like inserted dendrite in front of Zn monolayer growth. On the basis of STM observations, a mechanism of inserted dendritic growth and a mechanism of its transition to layered growth are proposed.
Soot nucleation is one of the most complex and debated steps of the soot formation process in combustion. In this work, we used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) to probe morphological and electronic properties of incipient soot particles formed right behind the flame front of a lightly sooting laminar premixed flame of ethylene and air. Particles were thermophoretically sampled on an atomically flat gold film on a mica substrate. High-resolution STM images of incipient soot particles were obtained for the first time showing the morphology of sub-5 nm incipient soot pa…
We experimentally study the surface roughness and the lateral friction force in single-layer MoS2 crystals deposited on different substrates: SiO2, mica and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Roughness and sliding friction measurements are performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We find a strong dependence of the MoS2 roughness on the underlying substrate material, being h-BN the substrate which better preserves the flatness of the MoS2 crystal. The lateral friction also lowers as the roughness decreases, and attains its lowest value for MoS2 flakes on h-BN substrates. However, it is still hi…
The electrical potential on the surface of $\sim 300$ nm thick SiO$_2$ grown on single crystalline Si substrates has been characterized at ambient conditions using electric field microscopy. Our results show an inhomogeneous potential distribution with fluctuations up to $\sim 0.4 $V within regions of $1 μ$m. The potential fluctuations observed at the surface of these usual dielectric holders of graphene sheets should induce strong variations in the graphene charge densities and provide a simple explanation for some of the anomalous behaviors of the transport properties of graphene.
