IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-15255-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mechanical cleaning of graphene using in situ electron microscopy

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Schweizer

    (Institute of Micro- and Nanostructure Research (IMN) and Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Christian Dolle

    (Institute of Micro- and Nanostructure Research (IMN) and Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Daniela Dasler

    (Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy and Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP), Chair of Organic Chemistry II, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Gonzalo Abellán

    (Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy and Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP), Chair of Organic Chemistry II, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
    Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol), Universidad de Valencia)

  • Frank Hauke

    (Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy and Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP), Chair of Organic Chemistry II, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Andreas Hirsch

    (Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy and Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP), Chair of Organic Chemistry II, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Erdmann Spiecker

    (Institute of Micro- and Nanostructure Research (IMN) and Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Abstract

Avoiding and removing surface contamination is a crucial task when handling specimens in any scientific experiment. This is especially true for two-dimensional materials such as graphene, which are extraordinarily affected by contamination due to their large surface area. While many efforts have been made to reduce and remove contamination from such surfaces, the issue is far from resolved. Here we report on an in situ mechanical cleaning method that enables the site-specific removal of contamination from both sides of two dimensional membranes down to atomic-scale cleanliness. Further, mechanisms of re-contamination are discussed, finding surface-diffusion to be the major factor for contamination in electron microscopy. Finally the targeted, electron-beam assisted synthesis of a nanocrystalline graphene layer by supplying a precursor molecule to cleaned areas is demonstrated.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Schweizer & Christian Dolle & Daniela Dasler & Gonzalo Abellán & Frank Hauke & Andreas Hirsch & Erdmann Spiecker, 2020. "Mechanical cleaning of graphene using in situ electron microscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15255-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15255-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15255-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-15255-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. P. Z. Sun & M. Yagmurcukardes & R. Zhang & W. J. Kuang & M. Lozada-Hidalgo & B. L. Liu & H.-M. Cheng & F. C. Wang & F. M. Peeters & I. V. Grigorieva & A. K. Geim, 2021. "Exponentially selective molecular sieving through angstrom pores," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15255-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.