AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Graphene and Related Materials Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session GR+TF+NS-ThA

Paper GR+TF+NS-ThA11
Study of Ridges on Epitaxial Graphene on 6H-SiC(0001)

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 5:20 pm, Room 208

Session: Graphene Nanoribbons and Related Structures
Presenter: Yaoyi Li, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Authors: Y.Y. Li, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Y. Liu, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
L. Li, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Correspondent: Click to Email
The graphitization of hexagonal SiC surfaces provides a viable alternative for the synthesis of wafer-sized graphene for mass device production. During the later stages of growth, ridges are often observed on the graphene layers as a result of bending and buckling to relieve the compressive strain between the graphene and SiC substrate, which also introduce ripples in the otherwise atomically flat graphene sheet. In this work, we show, by atomic resolution STM imaging, that ridges are in fact bulged regions of the graphene layer, forming one-dimentional (nanowire) and zero-dimentional (quantum dot) nanostructures. We further demonstrate that their structures can be manipulated and even new ones created by the pressure exerted by the STM tip during imaging. These results and their impact on the electronic properties of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) will be presented at the meeting.