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In two-dimensional samples, all atomsare at the surface and therebyexposed for probing and manipulation by physical or chemical meansfrom both sides. Here, we show that we can access the same point onboth surfaces of a few-layer graphene membrane simultaneously, usinga dual-probe scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) setup. At the closestpoint, the two probes are separated only by the thickness of the graphenemembrane. This allows us for the first time to directly measure thedeformations induced by one STM probe on a free-standing membranewith an independent second probe. We reveal different regimes of stabilityof few-layer graphene and show how the STM probes can be used as toolsto shape the membrane in a controlled manner. Our work opens new avenuesfor the study of mechanical and electronic properties of two-dimensionalmaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycrystallinegraphene is a patchwork of coalescing graphenegrains of varying lattice orientations and size, resulting from thechemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth at random nucleation siteson metallic substrates. The morphology of grain boundaries has becomean important topic given its fundamental role in limiting the mobilityof charge carriers in polycrystalline graphene, as compared to mechanicallyexfoliated samples. Here we report new insights to the current understandingof charge transport in polycrystalline geometries. We created realisticmodels of large CVD-grown graphene samples and then computed the correspondingcharge carrier mobilities as a function of the average grain sizeand the coalescence quality between the grains. Our results reveala remarkably simple scaling law for the mean free path and conductivity,correlated to atomic-scale charge density fluctuations along grainboundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain boundary (GB) migration in polycrystalline solidsis a materialsscience manifestation of survival of the fittest, with adjacent grainscompeting to add atoms to their outer surfaces at each other’sexpense. This process is thermodynamically favored when it lowersthe total GB area in the sample, thereby reducing the excess freeenergy contributed by the boundaries. In this picture, a curved boundaryis expected to migrate toward its center of curvature with a velocityproportional to the local radius of boundary curvature (R). Investigating the underlying mechanism of boundary migration ina 3D material, however, has been reserved for computer simulationor analytical theory, as capturing the dynamics of individual atomsin the core region of a GB is well beyond the spatial and temporalresolution limits of current characterization techniques. Here,we similarly overcome the conventional experimental limits by investigatinga 2D material, polycrystalline graphene, in an aberration-correctedtransmission electron microscope, exploiting the energy of the imagingelectrons to stimulate individual bond rotations in the GB core region.The resulting morphological changes are followed in situ, atom-by-atom,revealing configurational fluctuations that take on a time-averagedpreferential direction only in the presence of significant boundarycurvature, as confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations. Remarkably, inthe extreme case of a small graphene grain enclosed within a largerone, we follow its shrinkage to the point of complete disappearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the atomic structure of intrinsic defects in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides is difficult since they damage quickly under the intense electron irradiation in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, this can also lead to insights into the creation of defects and their atom-scale dynamics. We first show that MoTe2 monolayers without protection indeed quickly degrade during scanning TEM (STEM) imaging, and discuss the observed atomic-level dynamics, including a transformation from the 1H phase into 1T', 3-fold rotationally symmetric defects, and the migration of line defects between two 1H grains with a 60° misorientation. We then analyze the atomic structure of MoTe2 encapsulated between two graphene sheets to mitigate damage, finding the as-prepared material to contain an unexpectedly large concentration of defects. These include similar point defects (or quantum dots, QDs) as those created in the nonencapsulated material and two different types of line defects (or quantum wires, QWs) that can be transformed from one to the other under electron irradiation. Our density functional theory simulations indicate that the QDs and QWs embedded in MoTe2 introduce new midgap states into the semiconducting material and may thus be used to control its electronic and optical properties. Finally, the edge of the encapsulated material appears amorphous, possibly due to the pressure caused by the encapsulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single atoms and few-atom nanoclusters are of high interest in catalysis and plasmonics, but pathways for their fabrication and placement remain scarce. We report here the self-assembly of room-temperature-stable single indium (In) atoms and few-atom In clusters (2-6 atoms) that are anchored to substitutional silicon (Si) impurity atoms in suspended monolayer graphene membranes. Using atomically resolved scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), we find that the symmetry of the In structures is critically determined by the three- or fourfold coordination of the Si "anchors". All structures are produced without electron-beam induced materials modification. In turn, when activated by electron beam irradiation in the STEM, we observe in situ the formation, restructuring, and translation of the Si-anchored In structures. Our results on In-Si-graphene provide a materials system for controlled self-assembly and heteroatomic anchoring of single atoms and few-atom nanoclusters on graphene.

Structural engineering is the first step toward changing properties of materials. While this can be at relative ease done for bulk materials, for example, using ion irradiation, similar engineering of 2D materials and other low-dimensional structures remains a challenge. The difficulties range from the preparation of clean and uniform samples to the sensitivity of these structures to the overwhelming task of sample-wide characterization of the subjected modifications at the atomic scale. Here, we overcome these issues using a near ultrahigh vacuum system comprised of an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope and setups for sample cleaning and manipulation, which are combined with automated atomic-resolution imaging of large sample areas and a convolutional neural network approach for image analysis. This allows us to create and fully characterize atomically clean free-standing graphene with a controlled defect distribution, thus providing the important first step toward atomically tailored two-dimensional materials.

Transparent and conductive films (TCFs) are of great technological importance. Their high transmittance, electrical conductivity, and mechanical strength make single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) a good candidate for the raw material for TCFs. Despite the ballistic transport in individual SWCNTs, electrical conductivity of SWCNT networks is limited by low efficiency of charge tunneling between the tube elements. Here, we demonstrate that the nanotube network sheet resistance at high optical transmittance is decreased by more than 50% when fabricated on graphene. This is a comparable improvement as that obtained through gold chloride (AuCl 3 ) doping. However, while Raman spectroscopy reveals substantial changes in spectral features of AuCl 3  doped nanotubes, this does not occur with graphene. Instead, temperature-dependent transport measurements indicate that a graphene substrate reduces the tunneling barrier heights, while its parallel conductivity contribution is almost negligible. Finally, we show that combining the graphene substrate and AuCl 3  doping, brings the SWCNT thin film sheet resistance down to 36 Ω/□.

We employ atomically resolved and element-specific scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to visualize in situ and at the atomic scale the crystallization and restructuring processes of two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) films. To this end, we deposit a model heterostructure of thin amorphous MoS 2 films onto freestanding graphene membranes used as high-resolution STEM supports. Notably, during STEM imaging the energy input from the scanning electron beam leads to beam-induced crystallization and restructuring of the amorphous MoS 2 into crystalline MoS 2 domains, thereby emulating widely used elevated temperature MoS 2 synthesis and processing conditions. We thereby directly observe nucleation, growth, crystallization, and restructuring events in the evolving MoS 2 films in situ and at the atomic scale. Our observations suggest that during MoS 2 processing, various MoS 2 polymorphs co-evolve in parallel and that these can dynamically transform into each other. We further highlight transitions from in-plane to out-of-plane crystallization of MoS 2 layers, give indication of Mo and S diffusion species, and suggest that, in our system and depending on conditions, MoS 2 crystallization can be influenced by a weak MoS 2 /graphene support epitaxy. Our atomic-scale in situ approach thereby visualizes multiple fundamental processes that underlie the varied MoS 2 morphologies observed in previous ex situ growth and processing work. Our work introduces a general approach to in situ visualize at the atomic scale the growth and restructuring mechanisms of 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides and other 2D materials.

Molecular self-assembly due to chemical interactions is the basis of bottom-up nanofabrication, whereas weaker intermolecular forces dominate on the scale of macromolecules. Recent advances in synthesis and characterization have brought increasing attention to two- and mixed-dimensional heterostructures, and it has been recognized that van der Waals (vdW) forces within the structure may have a significant impact on their morphology. Here, we suspend single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on graphene to create a model system for the study of a 1D-2D molecular interface through atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy observations. When brought into contact, the radial deformation of SWCNTs and the emergence of long-range linear grooves in graphene revealed by the three-dimensional reconstruction of the heterostructure are observed. These topographic features are strain-correlated but show no sensitivity to carbon nanotube helicity, electronic structure, or stacking order. Finally, despite the random deposition of the nanotubes, we show that the competition between strain and vdW forces results in aligned carbon-carbon interfaces spanning hundreds of nanometers.

Incorporating heteroatoms into the graphene lattice may be used to tailor its electronic, mechanical and chemical properties, although directly observed substitutions have thus far been limited to incidental Si impurities and P, N and B dopants introduced using low-energy ion implantation. We present here the heaviest impurity to date, namely 74 Ge + ions implanted into monolayer graphene. Although sample contamination remains an issue, atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging and quantitative image simulations show that Ge can either directly substitute single atoms, bonding to three carbon neighbors in a buckled out-of-plane configuration, or occupy an in-plane position in a divacancy. First-principles molecular dynamics provides further atomistic insight into the implantation process, revealing a strong chemical effect that enables implantation below the graphene displacement threshold energy. Our results demonstrate that heavy atoms can be implanted into the graphene lattice, pointing a way toward advanced applications such as single-atom catalysis with graphene as the template.

We demonstrate the growth of overlapping grain boundaries in continuous, polycrystalline hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer films via scalable catalytic chemical vapor deposition. Unlike the commonly reported atomically stitched grain boundaries, these overlapping grain boundaries do not consist of defect lines within the monolayer films but are composed of self-sealing bilayer regions of limited width. We characterize this overlapping h-BN grain boundary structure in detail by complementary (scanning) transmission electron microscopy techniques and propose a catalytic growth mechanism linked to the subsurface/bulk of the process catalyst and its boron and nitrogen solubilities. Our data suggest that the overlapping grain boundaries are comparatively resilient against deleterious pinhole formation associated with grain boundary defect lines and thus may reduce detrimental breakdown effects when polycrystalline h-BN monolayer films are used as ultrathin dielectrics, barrier layers, or separation membranes.

In this work we demonstrate that a free-standing van der Waals heterostructure, usually regarded as a flat object, can exhibit an intrinsic buckled atomic structure resulting from the interaction between two layers with a small lattice mismatch. We studied a freely suspended membrane of well-aligned graphene on a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) monolayer by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning TEM (STEM). We developed a detection method in the STEM that is capable of recording the direction of the scattered electron beam and that is extremely sensitive to the local stacking of atoms. A comparison between experimental data and simulated models shows that the heterostructure effectively bends in the out-of-plane direction, producing an undulated structure having a periodicity that matches the moiré wavelength. We attribute this rippling to the interlayer interaction and also show how this affects the intralayer strain in each layer.

Layered two-dimensional (2D) materials display great potential for a range of applications, particularly in electronics. We report the large-scale synthesis of thin films of platinum diselenide (PtSe 2 ), a thus far scarcely investigated transition metal dichalcogenide. Importantly, the synthesis by thermally assisted conversion is performed at 400 °C, representing a breakthrough for the direct integration of this material with silicon (Si) technology. Besides the thorough characterization of this 2D material, we demonstrate its promise for applications in high-performance gas sensing with extremely short response and recovery times observed due to the 2D nature of the films. Furthermore, we realized vertically stacked heterostructures of PtSe 2 on Si which act as both photodiodes and photovoltaic cells. Thus, this study establishes PtSe 2 as a potential candidate for next-generation sensors and (opto-)electronic devices, using fabrication protocols compatible with established Si technologies.

We expose epitaxial graphene (Gr) on Ir(111) to low-energy noble gas ion irradiation and investigate by scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic simulations the behavior of C atoms detached from Gr due to ion impacts. Consistent with our density functional theory calculations, upon annealing Gr nanoplatelets nucleate at the Gr/Ir(111) interface from trapped C atoms initially displaced with momentum toward the substrate. Making use of the nanoplatelet formation phenomenon, we measure the trapping yield as a function of ion energy and species and compare the values to those obtained using molecular dynamics simulations. Thereby, complementary to the sputtering yield, the trapping yield is established as a quantity characterizing the response of supported 2D materials to ion exposure. Our findings shed light on the microscopic mechanisms of defect production in supported 2D materials under ion irradiation and pave the way toward precise control of such systems by ion beam engineering.

By combining ion beam experiments and atomistic simulations we study the production of defects in graphene on Ir(111) under grazing incidence of low energy Xe ions. We demonstrate that the ions are channeled in between graphene and the substrate, giving rise to chains of vacancy clusters with their edges bending down toward the substrate. These clusters self-organize to a graphene nanomesh via thermally activated diffusion as their formation energy varies within the graphene moiré supercell.

By combining ab initio simulations with state-of-the-art electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy, we study the mechanism of electron beam damage in nitrogen-doped graphene and carbon nanotubes. Our results show that the incorporation of nitrogen atoms results in noticeable knock-on damage in these structures already at an acceleration voltage of 80 kV, at which essentially no damage is created in pristine structures at corresponding doses. Contrary to an early estimate predicting rapid destruction via sputtering of the nitrogen atoms, in the case of substitutional doping, damage is initiated by displacement of carbon atoms neighboring the nitrogen dopant, leading to the conversion of substitutional dopant sites into pyridinic ones. Although such events are relatively rare at 80 kV, they become significant at higher voltages typically used in electron energy loss spectroscopy studies. Correspondingly, we measured an energy loss spectrum time series at 100 kV that provides direct evidence for such conversions in nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes, in excellent agreement with our theoretical prediction. Besides providing an improved understanding of the irradiation stability of these structures, we show that structural changes cannot be neglected in their characterization employing high-energy electrons.

Electron beam of a transmission electron microscope can be used to alter the morphology of graphene nanoribbons and create atomically sharp edges required for applications of graphene in nanoelectronics. Using density-functional-theory-based simulations, we study the radiation hardness of graphene edges and show that the response of the ribbons to irradiation is not determined by the equilibrium energetics as assumed in previous experiments, but by kinetic effects associated with the dynamics of the edge atoms after impacts of energetic electrons. We report an unexpectedly high stability of armchair edges, comparable to that of pristine graphene, and demonstrate that the electron energy should be below ~50 keV to minimize the knock-on damage., (© 2011 American Chemical Society)

Graphene is one of the most promising materials in nanotechnology. The electronic and mechanical properties of graphene samples with high perfection of the atomic lattice are outstanding, but structural defects, which may appear during growth or processing, deteriorate the performance of graphene-based devices. However, deviations from perfection can be useful in some applications, as they make it possible to tailor the local properties of graphene and to achieve new functionalities. In this article, the present knowledge about point and line defects in graphene are reviewed. Particular emphasis is put on the unique ability of graphene to reconstruct its lattice around intrinsic defects, leading to interesting effects and potential applications. Extrinsic defects such as foreign atoms which are of equally high importance for designing graphene-based devices with dedicated properties are also discussed.