E-beam manipulation of Si atoms on graphene edges with aberration-corrected STEM

Abstract

The burgeoning field of atomic level material control holds great promise for future breakthroughs in quantum and memristive device manufacture and fundamental studies of atomic-scale chemistry. Realization of atom-by atom control of matter represents a complex and ongoing challenge. Here, we explore the feasibility of controllable motion of dopant Si atoms at the edges of graphene via the sub-atomically focused electron beam in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). We demonstrate that the graphene edges can be cleaned of Si atoms and then subsequently replenished from nearby source material. It is also shown how Si edge atoms may be pushed from the edge of a small hole into the bulk of the graphene lattice and from the bulk of the lattice back to the edge. This is accomplished through sputtering of the edge of the graphene lattice to bury or uncover Si dopant atoms. These experiments form an initial step toward general atomic scale material control.

References in corpus (7)

• Manipulating low-dimensional materials down to the level of single atoms with electron irradiation
• Direct Experimental Evidence of Metal-Mediated Etching of Suspended Graphene
• Silicon-carbon bond inversions driven by 60 keV electrons in graphene
• Single atom manipulation and control in a scanning transmission electron microscope
• Towards atomically precise manipulation of 2D nanostructures in the electron microscope
• Isotope analysis in the transmission electron microscope
• Mitigating E-beam-induced Hydrocarbon Deposition on Graphene for Atomic-Scale Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Studies

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Exploring order parameters and dynamic processes in disordered systems via variational autoencoders
• Manifold Learning of Four-dimensional Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
• Electron-beam Introduction of Heteroatomic Pt-Si Structures in Graphene
• Doping of Cr in Graphene Using Electron Beam Manipulation for Functional Defect Engineering
• Atomic mechanisms for the Si atom dynamics in graphene: chemical transformations at the edge and in the bulk