TY - JOUR
T1 - Tunneling spectra of graphene on copper unraveled
AU - Zhang, Xin
AU - Stradi, Daniele
AU - Liu, Lei
AU - Luo, Hong
AU - Brandbyge, Mads
AU - Gu, Gong
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Scanning tunneling spectroscopy is often employed to study two-dimensional (2D) materials on conductive growth substrates, in order to gain information on the electronic structures of the 2D material-substrate systems, which can lead to insight into 2D material-substrate interactions, growth mechanisms, etc. The interpretation of the spectra can be complicated, however. Specifically for graphene grown on copper, there have been conflicting reports of tunneling spectra. A clear understanding of the mechanisms behind the variability is desired. In this work, we have revealed that the root cause of the variability in tunneling spectra is the variation in graphene-substrate coupling under various experimental conditions, providing a salutary perspective on the important role of 2D material-substrate interactions. The conclusions are drawn from measured data and theoretical calculations for monolayer, AB-stacked bilayer, and twisted bilayer graphene coexisting on the same substrates in areas with and without intercalated oxygen, demonstrating a high degree of consistency. The Van Hove singularities of the twisted graphene unambiguously indicate the Dirac energy between them, lending strong evidence to our assignment of the spectral features. In addition, we have discovered an O-Cu superstructure that has never been observed before.
AB - Scanning tunneling spectroscopy is often employed to study two-dimensional (2D) materials on conductive growth substrates, in order to gain information on the electronic structures of the 2D material-substrate systems, which can lead to insight into 2D material-substrate interactions, growth mechanisms, etc. The interpretation of the spectra can be complicated, however. Specifically for graphene grown on copper, there have been conflicting reports of tunneling spectra. A clear understanding of the mechanisms behind the variability is desired. In this work, we have revealed that the root cause of the variability in tunneling spectra is the variation in graphene-substrate coupling under various experimental conditions, providing a salutary perspective on the important role of 2D material-substrate interactions. The conclusions are drawn from measured data and theoretical calculations for monolayer, AB-stacked bilayer, and twisted bilayer graphene coexisting on the same substrates in areas with and without intercalated oxygen, demonstrating a high degree of consistency. The Van Hove singularities of the twisted graphene unambiguously indicate the Dirac energy between them, lending strong evidence to our assignment of the spectral features. In addition, we have discovered an O-Cu superstructure that has never been observed before.
U2 - 10.1039/c6cp01572g
DO - 10.1039/c6cp01572g
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 27297050
SN - 1463-9076
VL - 18
SP - 17081
EP - 17090
JO - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
IS - 25
ER -