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Matheus J. S. Matos

J. A. Gonçalves, R. Nascimento, M. J. S. Matos, A. B. de Oliveira, H. Chacham, and R. J. C. Batista, “Edge-Reconstructed, Few-Layered Graphene Nanoribbons: Stability and Electronic Properties,” The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 121, no. 10, pp. 5836-5840, 2017. Publisher's VersionAbstract

J. Phys. Chem. C, 2017, 121 (10), pp 5836–5840

We report a first-principles study of edge-reconstructed, few-layered graphene nanoribbons. We find that the nanoribbon stability increases linearly with increasing width and decreases linearly with increasing number of layers (from three to six layers). Specifically, we find that a three-layer 1.3 nm wide ribbon is energetically more stable than the C60 fullerene, and that a 1.8 nm wide ribbon is more stable than a (10,0) carbon nanotube. The morphologies of the reconstructed edges are characterized by the presence of five-, six-, and sevenfold rings, with sp3 and sp2bonds at the reconstructed edges. The electronic structure of the few-layered nanoribbons with reconstructed edges can be metallic or semiconducting, with band gaps oscillating between 0 and 0.28 eV as a function of ribbon width.

T. Chagas, et al., “Room temperature observation of the correlation between atomic and electronic structure of graphene on Cu(110),” RSC Adv., vol. 6, pp. 98001-98009, 2016. Publisher's VersionAbstract
In this work we have used atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to study the interplay between the atomic and electronic structure of graphene formed on copper via chemical vapor deposition. Scanning tunneling microscopy directly revealed the epitaxial match between a single layer of graphene and the underlying copper substrate in different crystallographic orientations. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy we have directly measured the electronic density of states of graphene layers near the Fermi level, observing the appearance of a series of peaks in specific cases. These features were analyzed in terms of substrate-induced perturbations in the structural and electronic properties of graphene by means of atomistic models supported by density functional theory calculations.
P. M. Coelho, et al., “Near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy signature of image potential states in multilayer epitaxial graphene,” Surface Science, vol. 644, pp. 135-140, 2016. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Single layer behavior in multilayer epitaxial graphene has been a matter of intense investigation. This is due to the layer decoupling that occurs during growth of graphene on some types of substrates, such as carbon-terminated silicon carbide. We show here that near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy can be used to observe the signature of this decoupling. To this end, samples of multilayer graphene from silicon carbide sublimation were grown with different degrees of decoupling. Raman spectroscopy was used to infer the degree of structural decoupling. X-ray grazing-incidence diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy showed that growth initiates with the presence of bilayer graphene commensurate structures, while layer decoupling is associated to the formation of incommensurate structures observed for longer sublimation time. Near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to probe the electronic states above the Fermi energy. Besides the σ* and π* empty states, image potential states are observed and show a clear change of intensity as a function of incident angle. These image potential states evolve from a graphite- to graphene-like behavior as a function of growth time and can be used to infer the degree of structural coupling among layers.
M. C. Prado, R. Nascimento, B. E. N. Faria, M. J. S. Matos, H. Chacham, and B. R. A. Neves, “Nanometre-scale identification of grain boundaries in MoS 2 through molecular decoration,” Nanotechnology, vol. 26, no. 47, pp. 475702, 2015. Publisher's VersionAbstract
In this paper, we address the challenge of identifying grain boundaries on the molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) surface at the nanometre scale using a simple self-assembled monolayer (SAM) decoration method. Combined with atomic force microscopy, octadecylphosphonic acid monolayers readily reveal grain boundaries in MoS 2 at ambient conditions, without the need of atomic resolution measurements under vacuum. Additional ab initio calculations allow us to obtain the preferred orientation of the SAM structure relative to the MoS 2 beneath, and therefore, together with the experiments, the MoS 2 crystalline orientations at the grain boundaries. The proposed method enables the visualization of grain boundaries with sub-micrometer resolution for nanodevice investigation and failure analysis.

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