Single Indium Atoms and Few-Atom Indium Clusters Anchored onto Graphene via Silicon Heteroatoms
| Autor: | David D. O'Regan, Richard G. Hobbs, Bernhard C. Bayer, Jannik C. Meyer, Jani Kotakoski, Clemens Mangler, Toma Susi, Kenan Elibol, Kimmo Mustonen, Dominik Eder |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
inorganic chemicals
Materials science Silicon Heteroatom nanoclusters FOS: Physical sciences General Physics and Astronomy chemistry.chemical_element 02 engineering and technology 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences Article law.invention Nanoclusters anchoring Impurity law Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) Atom Scanning transmission electron microscopy Physics::Atomic and Molecular Clusters General Materials Science Physics::Atomic Physics Instrumentation Condensed Matter::Quantum Gases Condensed Matter - Materials Science Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Graphene graphene General Engineering Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) 2D materials 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 0104 chemical sciences Crystallography single atoms aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy chemistry 0210 nano-technology Indium |
| Zdroj: | ACS Nano |
| ISSN: | 1936-086X 1936-0851 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/acsnano.1c03535 |
| Popis: | Single atoms and few-atom nanoclusters are of high interest in catalysis and plasmonics, but pathways for their fabrication and stable 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 exact atomic arrangements of the In atoms depend strongly on the original coordination of the Si anchors in the graphene lattice: Single In atoms and In clusters with 3-fold symmetry readily form on 3-fold coordinated Si atoms, whereas 4-fold symmetric clusters are found attached to 4-fold coordinated Si atoms. All structures are produced by our fabrication route without the requirement for 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 dynamics of the Si-anchored In structures: Hexagon-centered 4-fold symmetric In clusters can (reversibly) transform into In chains or In dimers, whereas C-centered 3-fold symmetric In clusters can move along the zig-zag direction of the graphene lattice due to the migration of Si atoms during electron-beam irradiation, or transform to Si-anchored single In atoms. Our results provide a novel framework for the controlled self-assembly and heteroatomic anchoring of single atoms and few-atom clusters on graphene. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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