Bjarke Jørgensen

Bandgap opening in graphene induced by patterned hydrogen adsorption

Graphene, a single layer of graphite, has recently attracted considerable attention owing to its remarkable electronic and structural properties and its possible applications in many emerging areas such as graphene-based electronic devices. The charge carriers in graphene behave like massless Dirac fermions, and graphene shows ballistic charge transport, turning it into an ideal material for circuit fabrication. However, graphene lacks a bandgap around the Fermi level, which is the defining concept for semiconductor materials and essential for controlling the conductivity by electronic means. Theory predicts that a tunable bandgap may be engineered by periodic modulations of the graphene lattice, but experimental evidence for this is so far lacking. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a bandgap opening in graphene, induced by the patterned adsorption of atomic hydrogen onto the Moiré superlattice positions of graphene grown on an Ir(111) substrate.

Atomic Hydrogen Adsorbate Structures on Graphene

The adsorbate structures of atomic hydrogen on the basal plane of graphene on a SiC substrate is revealed by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). At low hydrogen coverage the formation of hydrogen dimer structures is observed, while at higher coverage larger disordered clusters are seen. We find that hydrogenation preferentially occurs on the protruding/high tunneling probability areas of the graphene layer modulated by the underlying 6 x 6 reconstruction of SiC. Hydrogenation offers the interesting possibility to manipulate both the electronic and chemical properties of graphene.

Controlling Hydrogenation of Graphene on Ir(111)

Combined fast X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations reveal the presence of two types of hydrogen adsorbate structures at the graphene/Ir(111) interface, namely, graphane-like islands and hydrogen dimer structures. While the former give rise to a periodic pattern, dimers tend to destroy the periodicity. Our data reveal distinctive growth rates and stability of both types of structures, thereby allowing one to obtain well-defined patterns of hydrogen clusters. The ability to control and manipulate the formation and size of hydrogen structures on graphene facilitates tailoring of its properties for a wide range of applications by means of covalent functionalization.

EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR THE FORMATION OF HIGHLY SUPERHYDROGENATED POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS THROUGH H ATOM ADDITION AND THEIR CATALYTIC ROLE IN H2 FORMATION

Mass spectrometry measurements show the formation of highly superhydrogenated derivatives of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecule coronene through H atom addition reactions. The observed product mass distribution provides evidence also for abstraction reactions resulting in H2 formation, in agreement with recent IR measurements. Complementary density functional theory calculations confirm the stability of the observed superhydrogenated species toward spontaneous H and H2 loss indicating that abstraction reactions may be the dominant route to H2 formation involving neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results indicate that highly superhydrogenated PAHs could well be formed and could act as efficient catalysts for H2 formation in the interstellar medium in low UV flux regions.

Facile electrochemical transfer of large-area single crystal epitaxial graphene from Ir(1 1 1)

High-quality growth of graphene and subsequent reliable transfer to insulating substrates are needed for various technological applications, such as flexible screens and high speed electronics. In this paper, we present a new electrochemical method for the transfer of large-area, high-quality single crystalline graphene from Ir(1 1 1) to Si/SiO2 under ambient conditions. The method is based on intercalation of tetraoctylammonium ions between the graphene layer and the Ir surface. This simple technique allows transfer of graphene single crystals having the same size as the substrate they are grown on (diameter ≈7 mm). In addition, the substrate can be reused for further growth cycles. A detailed Raman map analysis of the transferred graphene reveals straight lines, in which the Raman peaks characteristic for graphene are shifted. These lines originate from scratches in the Ir(1 1 1) crystal introduced by the polishing procedure. Furthermore, areas with numerous wrinkles exist inbetween these lines, forming a network across the entire graphene crystal. Hence, the initial characteristics and imprints left on the sheet of graphene in terms of strain and wrinkles from the growth process remain after transfer.

The influence of coronene super-hydrogenation on the coronene-graphite interaction

The changes in the strength of the interaction between the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, coronene, and graphite as a function of the degree of super-hydrogenation of the coronene molecule are investigated using temperature programmed desorption. A decrease in binding energy is observed for increasing degrees of super-hydrogenation, from 1.78 eV with no additional hydrogenation to 1.43 eV for the fully super-hydrogenated molecule. Density functional theory calculations using the optB88-vdW functional suggest that the decrease in binding energy is mostly due to an increased buckling of the molecule rather than the associated decrease in the number of π-electrons.