119 research outputs found
Numerical studies of confined states in rotated bilayers of graphene
Rotated graphene multilayers form a new class of graphene related systems
with electronic properties that drastically depend on the rotation angles. It
has been shown that bilayers behave like two isolated graphene planes for large
rotation angles. For smaller angles, states in the Dirac cones belonging to the
two layers interact resulting in the appearance of two van Hove singularities.
States become localised as the rotation angle decreases and the two van Hove
singularities merge into one peak at the Dirac energy. Here we go further and
consider bilayers with very small rotation angles. In this case, well defined
regions of AA stacking exist in the bilayer supercell and we show that states
are confined in these regions for energies in the [-\gamma_t, +\gamma_t] range
with \gamma_t the interplane mean interaction. As a consequence, the local
densities of states show discrete peaks for energies different from the Dirac
energy.Comment: 8 page
Impact of local stacking on the graphene-impurity interaction: theory and experiments
We investigate the graphene-impurity interaction problem by combining
experimental - scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) - and
theoretical - Anderson impurity model and density functional theory (DFT)
calculations - techniques. We use graphene on the SiC(000-1)(2x2)_C
reconstruction as a model system. The SiC substrate reconstruction is based on
silicon adatoms. Graphene mainly interacts with the dangling bonds of these
adatoms which act as impurities. Graphene grown on SiC(000-1)(2x2)_C shows
domains with various orientations relative to the substrate so that very
different local graphene/Si adatom stacking configurations can be probed on a
given grain. The position and width of the adatom (impurity) state can be
analyzed by STM/STS and related to its local environment owing to the high bias
electronic transparency of graphene. The experimental results are compared to
Anderson's model predictions and complemented by DFT calculations for some
specific local environments. We conclude that the adatom resonance shows a
smaller width and a larger shift toward the Dirac point for an adatom at the
center of a graphene hexagon than for an adatom just on top of a C graphene
atom.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Graphene on the C-terminated SiC (000 ) surface: An ab initio study
The atomic and electronic structures of a graphene layer on top of the
reconstruction of the SiC (000) surface are studied from
ab initio calculations. At variance with the (0001) face, no C bufferlayer is
found here. Si adatoms passivate the substrate surface so that the very first C
layer presents a linear dispersion characteristic of graphene. A small
graphene-substrate interaction remains in agreement with scanning tunneling
experiments (F.Hiebel et al. {\it Phys. Rev. B} {\bf 78} 153412 (2008)). The
stacking geometry has little influence on the interaction which explains the
rotational disorder observed on this face.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, additional materia
Quasiparticle Chirality in Epitaxial Graphene Probed at the Nanometer Scale
Graphene exhibits unconventional two-dimensional electronic properties
resulting from the symmetry of its quasiparticles, which leads to the concepts
of pseudospin and electronic chirality. Here we report that scanning tunneling
microscopy can be used to probe these unique symmetry properties at the
nanometer scale. They are reflected in the quantum interference pattern
resulting from elastic scattering off impurities, and they can be directly read
from its fast Fourier transform. Our data, complemented by theoretical
calculations, demonstrate that the pseudospin and the electronic chirality in
epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) correspond to the ones predicted for ideal
graphene.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, minor change
Electron states of mono- and bilayer graphene on SiC probed by STM
We present a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of a
gently-graphitized 6H-SiC(0001) surface in ultra high vacuum. From an analysis
of atomic scale images, we identify two different kinds of terraces, which we
unambiguously attribute to mono- and bilayer graphene capping a C-rich
interface. At low temperature, both terraces show
quantum interferences generated by static impurities. Such interferences are a
fingerprint of -like states close to the Fermi level. We conclude that the
metallic states of the first graphene layer are almost unperturbed by the
underlying interface, in agreement with recent photoemission experiments (A.
Bostwick et al., Nature Physics 3, 36 (2007))Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures submitte
Cleaning graphene : a first quantum/classical molecular dynamics approach
Graphene outstanding properties created a huge interest in the condensed
matter community and unprecedented fundings at the international scale in the
hope of application developments. Recently, there have been several reports of
incomplete removal of the polymer resists used to transfer as-grown graphene
from one substrate to another, resulting in altered graphene transport
properties. Finding a large-scale solution to clean graphene from adsorbed
residues is highly desirable and one promising possibility would be to use
hydrogen plasmas. In this spirit, we couple here quantum and classical
molecular dynamics simulations to explore the kinetic energy ranges required by
atomic hydrogen to selectively etch a simple residue, a CH3 group, without
irreversibly damaging the graphene. For incident energies in the 2-15 eV range,
the CH3 radical can be etched by forming a volatile CH4 compound which leaves
the surface, either in the CH4 form or breaking into CH3+H fragments, without
further defect formation. At this energy, adsorption of H atoms on graphene is
possible and further annealing will be required to recover pristine graphene.Comment: 9 figures, 27 page
Sentinel Lymph-Node Biopsy in Early-Stage Cervical Cancer: The 4-Year Follow-Up Results of the Senticol 2 Trial.
Senticol 2 is a randomized multicenter trial in the treatment of early-stage cervical cancer patients. The aim of the Senticol 2 study was to compare the effect of sentinel-lymph-node biopsy (SLNB) to that of SLNB + pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND), and to determine the postoperative lymphatic morbidity in the two groups. Here, we report a secondary objective of this study: the follow up.
In the Senticol 2 trial, patients underwent a laparoscopy with a sentinel-node-detection procedure and were randomized into two groups, namely: Group A, in which participants received SLNB, and Group B, in which participants received SLNB + PLND. Patients with an intra-operative macroscopically suspicious lymph node, were given a frozen-section evaluation and were randomized only if the results were negative. All of the patients received follow up with a clinical examination at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery, and then every 3-4 months after that. The median follow up was 51 months (4 years and 3 months).
Disease-free survival after 4 years for the SLNB group and the SLNB + PLND group were 89.51% and 93.1% (p = 0.53), respectively. The only statistical factor associated with recurrence in the univariate analysis was the adjuvant radiotherapy. No other factors, including the age of the patients, histological type, tumor size, lymph vascular space invasion (LVSI), and positive nodal status, were significant in the univariate or multivariate analyses. The overall survival rates after 4 years in the SLNB and SLNB + PLND groups were 95.2% and 96% (p = 0.97), with five and four deaths, respectively. The univariate and multivariate analyses did not find any prognostic factors.
This randomized study confirmed the results of the Senticol 1 study and supports the sentinel lymph node (SLN) technique as a safe technique for use in patients with early-stage cervical cancer treated with SLNB only. Disease-free survival after 4 years was similar in patients treated with SLN biopsy and patients who underwent a lymphadenectomy
Investigation of nickel lattice sites in diamond: Density functional theory and x-ray absorption near-edge structure experiments
International audienc
Early stage formation of graphene on the C-face of 6H-SiC
An investigation of the early stage formation of graphene on the C-face of
6H-SiC is presented. We show that the sublimation of few atomic layers of Si
out of the SiC substrate is not homogeneous. In good agreement with the results
of theoretical calculations it starts from defective sites, mainly dislocations
that define nearly circular flakes, which have a pyramidal, volcano-like, shape
with a center chimney where the original defect was located. At higher
temperatures, complete conversion occurs but, again, it is not homogeneous.
Within the sample surface the intensity of the Raman G and 2D bands, evidences
non-homogeneous thickness.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
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