2018/09/24 by Christoph Hofer, Viera Skakalova, Mohammad R. A. Monazam +5
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Advanced Physical and Chemical Molecular Interactions #Atom (system on chip) #Graphene #Graphene nanoribbons #Graphene research and applications #Heteroatom #Impurity #Molecular dynamics #Silicon #Zigzag #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #physics.app-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.5063449
arxiv created 2018/09/24 · openalex created_date 2018/09/27 · openalex publication_date 2019/02/04 · arxiv updated 2019/02/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We directly visualize the three-dimensional (3D) geometry and dynamics of silicon impurities in graphene as well as their dynamics by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. By acquiring images when the sample is tilted, we show that an asymmetry of the atomic position of the heteroatom in the projection reveals the non-planarity of the structure. From a sequence of images, we further demonstrate that the Si atom switches between up- and down- configurations with respect to the graphene plane, with an asymmetric cross-section. We further analyze the 3D structure and dynamics of a silicon tetramer in graphene. Our results clarify the out-of-plane structure of impurities in graphene by direct experimental observation and open a route to study their dynamics in three dimensions.