Ferromagnetic bubble clusters in Y0.67_{0.67}Ca0.33_{0.33}MnO3_3 thin films

We studied the ferromagnetic topology in a Y$_{0.67}$Ca$_{0.33}$MnO$_3$ thin film with a combination of magnetic force microscopy and magnetization measurements. Our results show that the spin-glass like behavior, reported previously for this system, could be attributed to frustrated interfaces of the ferromagnetic clusters embedded in a non-ferromagnetic matrix. We found temperature dependent changes of the magnetic topology at low temperatures, which suggests a non-static Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ ratio

Room Temperature Metastability of Multilayer Graphene Oxide Films

International audienceGraphene oxide has multiple potential applications. The chemistry of graphene oxide and its response to external stimuli such as temperature and light are not well understood and only approximately controlled. This under- standing is crucial to enable future applications of this material. Here, a com- bined experimental and density functional theory study shows that multilayer graphene oxide produced by oxidizing epitaxial graphene via the Hummers method is a metastable material whose structure and chemistry evolve at room temperature with a characteristic relaxation time of about one month. At the quasi-equilibrium, graphene oxide reaches a nearly-stable reduced O/C ratio, and exhibits a structure intensively deprived of epoxide groups and enriched of hydroxyl groups. Our calculations show that the structural and chemical changes are driven by the availability of hydrogen in the oxidized graphitic sheets, which favors the reduction of epoxide groups and the formation of water molecules

Nonperturbative chemical modification of graphene for protein micropatterning

International audienceGraphene's extraordinary physical properties and its planar geometry make it an ideal candidate for a wide array of applications, many of which require controlled chemical modification and the spatial organization of molecules on its surface. In particular, the ability to functionalize and micropattern graphene with proteins is relevant to bioscience applications such as biomolecular sensors, single-cell sensors, and tissue engineering.Wereport a general strategy for the noncovalent chemical modification of epitaxial graphene for protein immobilization and micropatterning. We show that bifunctional molecule pyrenebutanoic acid-succinimidyl ester (PYR-NHS), composed of the hydrophobic pyrene and the reactive succinimide ester group, binds to graphene noncovalently but irreversibly. We investigate whether the chemical treatment perturbs the electronic band structure of graphene using X-ray photoemission (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. Our results show that the sp2 hybridization remains intact and that the π band maintains its characteristic Lorentzian shape in the Raman spectra. The modified graphene surfaces, which bind specifically to amines in proteins, are micropatterned with arrays of fluorescently labeled proteins that are relevant to glucose sensors (glucose oxidase) and cell sensor and tissue engineering applications (laminin)

Chemical bonding and stability of multilayer graphene oxide layers

International audienceThe chemistry of graphene oxide (GO) and its response to external stimuli such as temperature and light are not well understood and only approximately controlled. This understanding is however crucial to enable future applications of the material that typically are subject to environmental conditions. The nature of the initial GO is also highly dependent on the preparation and the form of the initial carbon material. Here, we consider both standard GO made from oxidizing graphite and layered GO made from oxidizing epitaxial graphene on SiC, and examine their evolution under different stimuli. The effect of the solvent on the thermal evolution of standard GO in vacuum is first investigated. In situ infrared absorption measurements clearly show that the nature of the last solvent in contact with GO prior to deposition on a substrate for vacuum annealing studies substantially affect the chemical evolution of the material as GO is reduced. Second, the stability of GO derived from epitaxial graphene (on SiC) is examined as a function of time. We show that hydrogen, in the form of CH, is present after the Hummers process, and that hydrogen favors the reduction of epoxide groups and the formation of water molecules. Importantly, this transformation can take place at room temperature, albeit slowly (~ one month). Finally, the chemical interaction (e.g. bonding) between GO layers in multilayer samples is examined with diffraction (XRD) methods, spectroscopic (IR, XPS, Raman) techniques, imaging (APF) and first principles modeling

Nanoscale tunable reduction of graphene oxide for graphene electronics

International audienceGraphene is now recognized as the most likely carbon-based successor material for CMOS electronics. Recently, interest in graphene oxide (GO) has risen for producing large-scale flexible conductors and for its potential to open an electronic gap in graphene structures. We report on a means to tune the topographical and electrical properties of graphene-based materials with nanoscopic resolution by local thermal reduction of GO with a nano-size tip. The reduced GO nanostructures show an increase in conductivity up to four orders of magnitude as compared to pristine GO. No sign of tip wear or sample tearing was observed. Variably conductive nanoribbons with dimensions down to 12 nm have been produced in oxidized epitaxial graphene films in a single step that is clean, rapid and reliable

Ultrahard carbon film from epitaxial two-layer graphene

Atomically thin graphene exhibits fascinating mechanical properties, although its hardness and transverse stiffness are inferior to those of diamond. To date, there hasn't been any practical demonstration of the transformation of multi-layer graphene into diamond-like ultra-hard structures. Here we show that at room temperature and after nano-indentation, two-layer graphene on SiC(0001) exhibits a transverse stiffness and hardness comparable to diamond, resisting to perforation with a diamond indenter, and showing a reversible drop in electrical conductivity upon indentation. Density functional theory calculations suggest that upon compression, the two-layer graphene film transforms into a diamond-like film, producing both elastic deformations and sp2-to-sp3 chemical changes. Experiments and calculations show that this reversible phase change is not observed for a single buffer layer on SiC or graphene films thicker than 3 to 5 layers. Indeed, calculations show that whereas in two-layer graphene layer-stacking configuration controls the conformation of the diamond-like film, in a multilayer film it hinders the phase transformation.Comment: Published online on Nature Nanotechnology on December 18, 201

I-V transport measurements of a single unsupported MWCNT under various bending deformations

textThe first part of this dissertation is an introduction describing a brief historical background of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and their pseudo 1D structure responsible for many exotic electronic properties. The second part describes our experimental setup. The third part is about the growing of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Then the fourth part demonstrates a simple but reliable method to make firm contact junctions between MWCNTs and metals such as tungsten (W). The novel point of our method consists, after making a mechanical preliminary contact at a selected MWCNT, in applying a series of voltage pulses across the contact. Thin oxide layers that may form between the MWCNT and the W wire, are removed in steps by the resistive heating and electron impact during the application of each voltage pulse. Furthermore, this simple process of contact welding in steps does not bring about any permanent change in the electronic transport properties of the MWCNTs. The fifth part discusses our bending experiments. We apply a uniform and continuous bending to a selected MWCNT at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures to study the strain effect on the electrical transport in the MWCNT. There are a few published experimental works related to the bending deformation; however, this is the first study of electronic transport properties in continuous bending and releasing deformations. We observed a saturation behavior with the MWCNT and also found the bending deformation causing an anomalous change in the saturation behavior. In the sixth part we depict some interesting phenomena due to the stretching deformation of MWCNT, where we were able to propose a simple model for electron localization induced by the deformation. The last part deals with the formation of the "X-junction" between two MWCNTs. A strong X-junction can be formed simply by means of the e-beam inside the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The X-junctions may form the basic elements of nano-electronic circuits such as various metal-insulator junctions, quantum dots, and similar devices.Materials Science and Engineerin

Atomic-level Sharpening of a Carbon Nanotube Tip for High-resolution Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Using a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MW-CNT) tip, we have observed the honeycomb lattice of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). This observation was made after acquiring typical STM images of HOPG, i.e., showing the triangular lattice. We consider this change is due to atomic reconfiguration at the apex of the MW-CNT tip induced by continuous STM scanning. The atomic-level sharpening of CNT tips will be useful to image samples with small lattice constants or to obtain orbital information from samples with an orbital ordering such as manganites.11Nsciescopuskc

Accurate Atomic-Scale Imaging of Two-Dimensional Lattices Using Atomic Force Microscopy in Ambient Conditions

To facilitate the rapid development of van der Waals materials and heterostructures, scanning probe methods capable of nondestructively visualizing atomic lattices and moiré superlattices are highly desirable. Lateral force microscopy (LFM), which measures nanoscale friction based on the commonly available atomic force microscopy (AFM), can be used for imaging a wide range of two-dimensional (2D) materials, but imaging atomic lattices using this technique is difficult. Here, we examined a number of the common challenges encountered in LFM experiments and presented a universal protocol for obtaining reliable atomic-scale images of 2D materials under ambient environment. By studying a series of LFM images of graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), we have found that the accuracy and the contrast of atomic-scale images critically depended on several scanning parameters including the scan size and the scan rate. We applied this protocol to investigate the atomic structure of the ripped and self-folded edges of graphene and have found that these edges were mostly in the armchair direction. This finding is consistent with the results of several simulations results. Our study will guide the extensive effort on assembly and characterization of new 2D materials and heterostructures