Manipulation of the graphene surface potential by ion irradiation

We show that the work function of exfoliated single layer graphene can be modified by irradiation with swift (E_{kin}=92 MeV) heavy ions under glancing angles of incidence. Upon ion impact individual surface tracks are created in graphene on SiC. Due to the very localized energy deposition characteristic for ions in this energy range, the surface area which is structurally altered is limited to ~ 0.01 mum^2 per track. Kelvin probe force microscopy reveals that those surface tracks consist of electronically modified material and that a few tracks suffice to shift the surface potential of the whole single layer flake by ~ 400 meV. Thus, the irradiation turns the initially n-doped graphene into p-doped graphene with a hole density of 8.5 x 10^{12} holes/cm^2. This doping effect persists even after heating the irradiated samples to 500{\deg}C. Therefore, this charge transfer is not due to adsorbates but must instead be attributed to implanted atoms. The method presented here opens up a new way to efficiently manipulate the charge carrier concentration of graphene.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Damage in graphene due to electronic excitation induced by highly charged ions

Graphene is expected to be rather insensitive to ionizing particle radiation. We demonstrate that single layers of exfoliated graphene sustain significant damage from irradiation with slow highly charged ions. We have investigated the ion induced changes of graphene after irradiation with highly charged ions of different charge states (q = 28-42) and kinetic energies E_kin = 150-450 keV. Atomic force microscopy images reveal that the ion induced defects are not topographic in nature but are related to a significant change in friction. To create these defects, a minimum charge state is needed. In addition to this threshold behaviour, the required minimum charge state as well as the defect diameter show a strong dependency on the kinetic energy of the projectiles. From the linear dependency of the defect diameter on the projectile velocity we infer that electronic excitations triggered by the incoming ion in the above-surface phase play a dominant role for this unexpected defect creation in graphene

Nanostructuring Graphene by Dense Electronic Excitation

The ability to manufacture tailored graphene nanostructures is a key factor to fully exploit its enormous technological potential. We have investigated nanostructures created in graphene by swift heavy ion induced folding. For our experiments, single layers of graphene exfoliated on various substrates and freestanding graphene have been irradiated and analyzed by atomic force and high resolution transmission electron microscopy as well as Raman spectroscopy. We show that the dense electronic excitation in the wake of the traversing ion yields characteristic nanostructures each of which may be fabricated by choosing the proper irradiation conditions. These nanostructures include unique morphologies such as closed bilayer edges with a given chirality or nanopores within supported as well as freestanding graphene. The length and orientation of the nanopore, and thus of the associated closed bilayer edge, may be simply controlled by the direction of the incoming ion beam. In freestanding graphene, swift heavy ion irradiation induces extremely small openings, offering the possibility to perforate graphene membranes in a controlled way.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nanotechnolog

SPORT: A new sub-nanosecond time-resolved instrument to study swift heavy ion-beam induced luminescence - Application to luminescence degradation of a fast plastic scintillator

We developed a new sub-nanosecond time-resolved instrument to study the dynamics of UV-visible luminescence under high stopping power heavy ion irradiation. We applied our instrument, called SPORT, on a fast plastic scintillator (BC-400) irradiated with 27-MeV Ar ions having high mean electronic stopping power of 2.6 MeV/\mu m. As a consequence of increasing permanent radiation damages with increasing ion fluence, our investigations reveal a degradation of scintillation intensity together with, thanks to the time-resolved measurement, a decrease in the decay constant of the scintillator. This combination indicates that luminescence degradation processes by both dynamic and static quenching, the latter mechanism being predominant. Under such high density excitation, the scintillation deterioration of BC-400 is significantly enhanced compared to that observed in previous investigations, mainly performed using light ions. The observed non-linear behaviour implies that the dose at which luminescence starts deteriorating is not independent on particles' stopping power, thus illustrating that the radiation hardness of plastic scintillators can be strongly weakened under high excitation density in heavy ion environments.Comment: 5 figures, accepted in Nucl. Instrum. Methods

Response of GaN to energetic ion irradiation: conditions for ion track formation

We investigated the response of wurzite GaN thin films to energetic ion irradiation. Both swift heavy ions (92 MeV Xe23+, 23 MeV I6+) and highly charged ions (100 keV Xe40+) were used. After irradiation, the samples were investigated using atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy in channelling orientation and time of flight elastic recoil detection analysis. Only grazing incidence swift heavy ion irradiation induced changes on the surface of the GaN, when the appearance of nanoholes is accompanied by a notable loss of nitrogen. The results are discussed in the framework of the thermal spike model

Synergy between electronic and nuclear energy losses for color center creation in AlN

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