
Article Title
In situ imaging of layer-by-layer sublimation of suspended graphene
Keywords
Graphene, sublimation, in situ electron microscopy, vacancy hole, bilayer edge
Abstract
An individual suspended graphene sheet was connected to a scanning tunneling microscopy probe inside a transmission electron microscope, and Joule heated to high temperatures. At high temperatures and under electron beam irradiation, the few-layer graphene sheets were removed layer-by-layer in the viewing area until a monolayer graphene was formed. The layer-by-layer peeling was initiated at vacancies in individual graphene layers. The vacancies expanded to form nanometer-sized holes, which then grew along the perimeter and propagated to both the top and bottom layers of a bilayer graphene joined by a bilayer edge. The layer-by-layer peeling was induced by atom sublimation caused by Joule heating and facilitated by atom displacement caused by high-energy electron irradiation, and may be harnessed to control the layer thickness of graphene for device applications.
Graphical Abstract
Publisher
Tsinghua University Press
Recommended Citation
Jian Yu Huang,Liang Qi,Ju Li, In situ imaging of layer-by-layer sublimation of suspended graphene. NanoRes.2010, 3: 43–50