Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 77: Graphene V

O 77.2: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 15:15–15:30, WIL B321

Intercalation of ferromagnetic metals underneath graphene on Rh(111) — •Mikhail Fonin¹, Philipp Leicht¹, Muriel Sicot¹, and Yuriy S. Dedkov² — ¹Fachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz — ²Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, 14195 Berlin

Structure and electronic properties of atomically sharp interfaces between graphene and transition metal surfaces are both of fundamental and technological interest in view of possible device applications. Insertion of other metals between graphene and TM surface (intercalation) can be used to controllably modify the electronic or even magnetic properties of the graphene/metal interfaces.

Here, we present a systematic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of the intercalation process of ferromagnetic metals (Fe, Co, Ni) underneath graphene monolayer on the Rh(111) surface. Ferromagnetic metals were shown to be intercalated effectively at temperatures starting about 300 K yielding single monoatomically thin epitaxial islands underneath the graphene film. Atomically-resolved imaging of the graphene surface after intercalation shows no considerable changes of the moiré structure on top of intercalated metal islands. The strongly bound areas of the moiré structure were found to suppress the lateral growth of metallic islands. We show that in the temperature range of 300-600 K the intercalation process involves diffusion through defects in the graphene layer such as domain boundaries or point defects.