Graphene Manipulation on 4H-SiC(0001) Using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Abstract

Atomic-scale topography of epitaxial multilayer graphene grown on 4H-SiC(0001) was investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Bunched nano-ridges ten times smaller than previously recorded were observed throughout the surface, the morphology of which was systematically altered using a relatively new technique called electrostatic-manipulation scanning tunneling microscopy. Transformed graphene formations sometimes spontaneously returned to their original morphology, while others permanently changed. Using an electrostatic model, we calculate that a force up to ~5 nN was exerted by the STM tip, and an energy of around 10 eV was required to alter the geometry of a ~100 X 200 nm^2 area.

12 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (5)

• The electronic properties of graphene
• Evidence of structural strain in epitaxial graphene layers on 6H-SiC(0001)
• Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of inhomogeneous electronic structure in monolayer and bilayer graphene on SiC
• Electronic transition from graphite to graphene via controlled movement of the top layer with scanning tunneling microscopy
• Evolution in Surface Morphology of Epitaxial Graphene Layers on SiC Induced by Controlled Structural Strain

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Competing scanning tunneling microscope tip-interlayer interactions for twisted multilayer graphene on the a-plane SiC surface