2,373 research outputs found
Local sublattice-symmetry breaking in rotationally faulted multilayer graphene
Interlayer coupling in rotationally faulted graphene multilayers breaks the
local sublattice-symmetry of the individual layers. We present a theory of this
mechanism, which reduces to an effective Dirac model with space-dependent mass
in an important limit. It thus makes a wealth of existing knowledge available
for the study of rotationally faulted graphene multilayers. We demonstrate
quantitative agreement between our theory and a recent experiment.Comment: Valley dependence in Eqs. (2) and (7) corrected; coordinates x and y
interchanged in the appendi
Grain Boundary Loops in Graphene
Topological defects can affect the physical properties of graphene in
unexpected ways. Harnessing their influence may lead to enhanced control of
both material strength and electrical properties. Here we present a new class
of topological defects in graphene composed of a rotating sequence of
dislocations that close on themselves, forming grain boundary loops that either
conserve the number of atoms in the hexagonal lattice or accommodate
vacancy/interstitial reconstruction, while leaving no unsatisfied bonds. One
grain boundary loop is observed as a "flower" pattern in scanning tunneling
microscopy (STM) studies of epitaxial graphene grown on SiC(0001). We show that
the flower defect has the lowest energy per dislocation core of any known
topological defect in graphene, providing a natural explanation for its growth
via the coalescence of mobile dislocations.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. Revised title; expanded; updated reference
Electron-electron interactions in decoupled graphene layers
Multi-layer graphene on the carbon face of silicon carbide is an intriguing
electronic system which typically consists of a stack of ten or more layers.
Rotational stacking faults in this system dramatically reduce inter-layer
coherence. In this article we report on the influence of inter-layer
interactions, which remain strong even when coherence is negligible, on the
Fermi liquid properties of charged graphene layers. We find that inter-layer
interactions increase the magnitudes of correlation energies and decrease
quasiparticle velocities, even when remote-layer carrier densities are small,
and that they lessen the influence of exchange and correlation on the
distribution of carriers across layers.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitte
Quantitative tunneling spectroscopy of nanocrystals
The proposed goals of this collaborative work were to systematically characterize the electronic structure and dynamics of 3-dimensional metal and semiconducting nanocrystals using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) and ballistic electron emission spectroscopy (BEES). This report describes progress in the spectroscopic work and in the development of methods for creating and characterizing gold nanocrystals. During the grant period, substantial effort also was devoted to the development of epitaxial graphene (EG), a very promising materials system with outstanding potential for nanometer-scale ballistic and coherent devices ("graphene"Â refers to one atomic layer of graphitic, sp2 -bonded carbon atoms [or more loosely, few layers]). Funding from this DOE grant was critical for the initial development of epitaxial graphene for nanoelectronic
Evidence for Interlayer Electronic Coupling in Multilayer Epitaxial Graphene from Polarization Dependent Coherently Controlled Photocurrent Generation
Most experimental studies to date of multilayer epitaxial graphene on C-face
SiC have indicated that the electronic states of different layers are decoupled
as a consequence of rotational stacking. We have measured the third order
nonlinear tensor in epitaxial graphene as a novel approach to probe interlayer
electronic coupling, by studying THz emission from coherently controlled
photocurrents as a function of the optical pump and THz beam polarizations. We
find that the polarization dependence of the coherently controlled THz emission
expected from perfectly uncoupled layers, i.e. a single graphene sheet, is not
observed. We hypothesize that the observed angular dependence arises from weak
coupling between the layers; a model calculation of the angular dependence
treating the multilayer structure as a stack of independent bilayers with
variable interlayer coupling qualitatively reproduces the polarization
dependence, providing evidence for coupling.Comment: submitted to Nano Letter
Highly-ordered graphene for two dimensional electronics
With expanding interest in graphene-based electronics, it is crucial that
high quality graphene films be grown. Sublimation of Si from the 4H-SiC(0001)
Si-terminated) surface in ultrahigh vacuum is a demonstrated method to produce
epitaxial graphene sheets on a semiconductor. In this paper we show that
graphene grown from the SiC (C-terminated) surface are of higher
quality than those previously grown on SiC(0001). Graphene grown on the C-face
can have structural domain sizes more than three times larger than those grown
on the Si-face while at the same time reducing SiC substrate disorder from
sublimation by an order of magnitude.Comment: Submitted to Appl. Phys. Let
Inactivation of Poxviruses by Upper-Room UVC Light in a Simulated Hospital Room Environment
In the event of a smallpox outbreak due to bioterrorism, delays in vaccination programs may lead to significant secondary transmission. In the early phases of such an outbreak, transmission of smallpox will take place especially in locations where infected persons may congregate, such as hospital emergency rooms. Air disinfection using upper-room 254 nm (UVC) light can lower the airborne concentrations of infective viruses in the lower part of the room, and thereby control the spread of airborne infections among room occupants without exposing occupants to a significant amount of UVC. Using vaccinia virus aerosols as a surrogate for smallpox we report on the effectiveness of air disinfection, via upper-room UVC light, under simulated real world conditions including the effects of convection, mechanical mixing, temperature and relative humidity. In decay experiments, upper-room UVC fixtures used with mixing by a conventional ceiling fan produced decreases in airborne virus concentrations that would require additional ventilation of more than 87 air changes per hour. Under steady state conditions the effective air changes per hour associated with upper-room UVC ranged from 18 to 1000. The surprisingly high end of the observed range resulted from the extreme susceptibility of vaccinia virus to UVC at low relative humidity and use of 4 UVC fixtures in a small room with efficient air mixing. Increasing the number of UVC fixtures or mechanical ventilation rates resulted in greater fractional reduction in virus aerosol and UVC effectiveness was higher in winter compared to summer for each scenario tested. These data demonstrate that upper-room UVC has the potential to greatly reduce exposure to susceptible viral aerosols. The greater survival at baseline and greater UVC susceptibility of vaccinia under winter conditions suggest that while risk from an aerosol attack with smallpox would be greatest in winter, protective measures using UVC may also be most efficient at this time. These data may also be relevant to influenza, which also has improved aerosol survival at low RH and somewhat similar sensitivity to UVC
Fourier Transform Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy: the possibility to obtain constant energy maps and the band dispersion using a local measurement
We present here an overview of the Fourier Transform Scanning Tunneling
spectroscopy technique (FT-STS). This technique allows one to probe the
electronic properties of a two-dimensional system by analyzing the standing
waves formed in the vicinity of defects. We review both the experimental and
theoretical aspects of this approach, basing our analysis on some of our
previous results, as well as on other results described in the literature. We
explain how the topology of the constant energy maps can be deduced from the FT
of dI/dV map images which exhibit standing waves patterns. We show that not
only the position of the features observed in the FT maps, but also their shape
can be explained using different theoretical models of different levels of
approximation. Thus, starting with the classical and well known expression of
the Lindhard susceptibility which describes the screening of electron in a free
electron gas, we show that from the momentum dependence of the susceptibility
we can deduce the topology of the constant energy maps in a joint density of
states approximation (JDOS). We describe how some of the specific features
predicted by the JDOS are (or are not) observed experimentally in the FT maps.
The role of the phase factors which are neglected in the rough JDOS
approximation is described using the stationary phase conditions. We present
also the technique of the T-matrix approximation, which takes into account
accurately these phase factors. This technique has been successfully applied to
normal metals, as well as to systems with more complicated constant energy
contours. We present results recently obtained on graphene systems which
demonstrate the power of this technique, and the usefulness of local
measurements for determining the band structure, the map of the Fermi energy
and the constant-energy maps.Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures; invited review article, to appear in Journal of
Physics D: Applied Physic
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