Growth and Intercalation of Graphene on Silicon Carbide Studied by Low‐Energy Electron Microscopy

Speck, Florian; Ostler, Markus; Besendörfer, Sven; Krone, Julia; Wanke, Martina; Seyller, Thomas

doi:10.1002/andp.201700046

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Fig. 1(f) and Methods), leads to strong contrast between different stacking types of the graphene layers 15,18 . In fact, the contrast between different domains inverts ( Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Intrinsic stacking domains in graphene on silicon carbide: A pathway for intercalation

Jong

Krasovskii

Ott

et al. 2018

Phys. Rev. Materials

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Graphene on silicon carbide (SiC) bears great potential for future graphene electronic applications 1-5 because it is available on the wafer-scale 6-8 and its properties can be custom-tailored by inserting various atoms into the graphene/SiC interface 9-15 . It remains unclear, however, how atoms can cross the impermeable graphene layer during this widely used intercalation process 9,16,17 .Here we demonstrate that, in contrast to the current consensus, graphene layers on SiC are not homogeneous, but instead composed of domains of different crystallographic stacking [18][19][20] . We show that these domains are intrinsically formed during growth and that dislocations between domains dominate the (de)intercalation dynamics. Tailoring these dislocation networks, e.g. through substrate engineering, will increase the control over the intercalation process and could open a playground for topological and correlated electron phenomena in two-dimensional superstructures 21-24 .

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“…Fig. 1(f) and Methods), leads to strong contrast between different stacking types of the graphene layers 15,18 . In fact, the contrast between different domains inverts ( Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Intrinsic stacking domains in graphene on silicon carbide: A pathway for intercalation

Jong

Krasovskii

Ott

et al. 2018

Phys. Rev. Materials

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“…[ 32,47,53–54 ] In the case of graphene on SiC, intercalation has been observed to begin at the step edges [ 32,55–56 ] (where ripples are thought to increase reactivity of the graphene) [ 57 ] and through terraces, as in the case of hydrogen. [ 21 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve this, various techniques such as surface chemical doping [6] or atom substitution (see refs. [5,7] for a brief review of these methods), gating, [8][9][10][11][12][13] proximity effects, [8,14] stacking, [15,16] and intercalation [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] (see ref. [26] for a brief review of intercalation) have been applied.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the Rate of Magnesium Intercalation Underneath Epitaxial Graphene on 6H‐SiC(0001)

Kotsakidis

Currie

Čabo

et al. 2021

Adv Materials Inter

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in condensed matter physics experiments due to its ease of production (typically via micromechanical cleavage) [1,2] and access to novel physics owing to its linear "Dirac" band structure at low energy. [3,4] But for graphene to be useful in device applications, we must be able to engineer [5] its electrical properties. To achieve this, various techniques such as surface chemical doping [6] or atom substitution (see refs. [5,7] for a brief review of these methods), gating, [8][9][10][11][12][13] proximity effects, [8,14] stacking, [15,16] and intercalation [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] (see ref. [26] for a brief review of intercalation) have been applied. Of these techniques, intercalation (i.e., the insertion of atoms or molecules beneath or in-between graphene sheets) has been demonstrated as a relatively simple and versatile method for achieving control over graphene's key electrical properties-carrier type, [17][18][19]21] conductivity, [20,[27][28][29] and bandgap. [25,30] For instance, engineering the carrier type and bandgap via intercalation could enable graphene p-n junctions [31][32] and transistors. [33] Whereas increasing graphene's conductivity via intercalation could enable highly conductive and transparent electrodes for solar cells, [34] interconnects, [35] or new superconductors. [20,36] Many of the intercalation experiments to date have utilized epitaxially synthesized graphene on SiC (either the 4H-or 6H-polytype on the (0001) orientation, i.e., silicon Magnesium intercalated "quasi-freestanding" bilayer graphene on 6H-SiC(0001) (Mg-QFSBLG) has many favorable properties (e.g., highly n-type doped, relatively stable in ambient conditions). However, intercalation of Mg underneath monolayer graphene is challenging, requiring multiple intercalation steps. Here, these challenges are overcome and the rate of Mg intercalation is significantly increased by laser patterning (ablating) the graphene to form micron-sized discontinuities. Low energy electron diffraction is then used to verify Mg-intercalation and conversion to Mg-QFSBLG, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the Mg intercalation rate for patterned and non-patterned samples. By modeling Mg intercalation with the Verhulst equation, it is found that the intercalation rate increase for the patterned sample is 4.5 ± 1.7. Since the edge length of the patterned sample is ≈5.2 times that of the non-patterned sample, the model implies that the increased intercalation rate is proportional to the increase in edge length. Moreover, Mg intercalation likely begins at graphene discontinuities in pristine samples (not step edges or flat terraces), where the 2D-like crystal growth of Mg-silicide proceeds. The laser patterning technique may enable the rapid intercalation of other atomic or molecular species, thereby expanding upon the library of intercalants used to modify the characteristics of graphene, or other 2D materials and heterostructures.

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“…14 Despite being a major research subject with a large availability of experimental data, key atomic-scale mechanisms which control hydrogen intercalation of epitaxial graphene under MOCVD conditions are yet to be fully understood. 15 This is particularly the case for the dissociative chemisorption and diffusion of hydrogen on graphene. In this regard, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations are an indispensable tool of investigation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale phenomena ruling deposition and intercalation of AlN at the graphene/SiC interface

et al. 2020

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Growth and Intercalation of Graphene on Silicon Carbide Studied by Low‐Energy Electron Microscopy

Cited by 18 publications

References 75 publications

Intrinsic stacking domains in graphene on silicon carbide: A pathway for intercalation

Intrinsic stacking domains in graphene on silicon carbide: A pathway for intercalation

Increasing the Rate of Magnesium Intercalation Underneath Epitaxial Graphene on 6H‐SiC(0001)

Nanoscale phenomena ruling deposition and intercalation of AlN at the graphene/SiC interface

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