Atomistic Interrogation of B-N Co-dopant Structures and Their Electronic Effects in Graphene

Chemical doping has been demonstrated to be an effective method for producing high-quality, large-area graphene with controlled carrier concentrations and an atomically tailored work function. The emergent optoelectronic properties and surface reactivity of carbon nanostructures are dictated by the microstructure of atomic dopants. Co-doping of graphene with boron and nitrogen offers the possibility to further tune the electronic properties of graphene at the atomic level, potentially creating p- and n-type domains in a single carbon sheet, opening a gap between valence and conduction bands in the 2-D semimetal. Using a suite of high-resolution synchrotron-based X-ray techniques, scanning tunneling microscopy, and density functional theory based computation we visualize and characterize B-N dopant bond structures and their electronic effects at the atomic level in single-layer graphene grown on a copper substrate. We find there is a thermodynamic driving force for B and N atoms to cluster into BNC structures in graphene, rather than randomly distribute into isolated B and N graphitic dopants, although under the present growth conditions, kinetics limit segregation of large B-N domains. We observe that the doping effect of these BNC structures, which open a small band gap in graphene, follows the B:N ratio (B > N, p-type; B < N, n-type; B═N, neutral). We attribute this to the comparable electron-withdrawing and -donating effects, respectively, of individual graphitic B and N dopants, although local electrostatics also play a role in the work function change.

Local atomic and electronic structure of boron chemical doping in monolayer graphene

We use scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy to characterize the atomic and electronic structure of boron-doped and nitrogen-doped graphene created by chemical vapor deposition on copper substrates. Microscopic measurements show that boron, like nitrogen, incorporates into the carbon lattice primarily in the graphitic form and contributes ~0.5 carriers into the graphene sheet per dopant. Density functional theory calculations indicate that boron dopants interact strongly with the underlying copper substrate while nitrogen dopants do not. The local bonding differences between graphitic boron and nitrogen dopants lead to large scale differences in dopant distribution. The distribution of dopants is observed to be completely random in the case of boron, while nitrogen displays strong sublattice clustering. Structurally, nitrogen-doped graphene is relatively defect-free while boron-doped graphene films show a large number of Stone-Wales defects. These defects create local electronic resonances and cause electronic scattering, but do not electronically dope the graphene film.

Observation of graphene bubbles and effective mass transport under graphene films

Mechanically exfoliated graphene mounted on a SiO2/Si substrate was subjected to HF/H(2)O etching or irradiation by energetic protons. In both cases gas was released from the SiO2 and accumulated at the graphene/SiO2 interface resulting in the formation of "bubbles" in the graphene sheet. Formation of these "bubbles" demonstrates the robust nature of single layer graphene membranes, which are capable of containing mesoscopic volumes of gas. In addition, effective mass transport at the graphene/SiO2 interface has been observed.

Electronic Structure of Tubular Aromatic Molecules Derived from the Metallic (5,5) Armchair Single Wall Carbon Nanotube

All-electron static and time-dependent DFT electronic calculations, with complete geometrical optimization, are performed on tubular molecules up to C(210)H(20) that are finite sections of the (5,5) metallic single wall carbon nanotube with hydrogen termination at the open ends. We find pronounced C-C bond reconstruction at the tube ends; this initiates bond alternation that propagates into the tube centers. For the especially low band gap molecules C(120)H(20), C(150)H(20), and C(180)H(20), alternation increases, and a second nearly isoenergic structural isomer of different alternation is found. A small residual C-C bond alternation and band gap may be present in the infinite tube. The van Hove band gap forms quickly with length, while the metallic Fermi point (at the crossing of linear bands) forms very slowly with length. There are no end-localized states at energies near the Fermi energy. The HOMO-LUMO gap and the lowest singlet excited state, whose energies show a periodicity with length as previously calculated, are optically forbidden. However, each molecule shows an intense visible "charge transfer" transition, not present in the infinite tube, whose energy varies smoothly with length; this transition should be an identifying signature for these molecules. The static axial polarizability per unit length increases rapidly with N as the "charge transfer" transition moves into the infrared; this indicates increasing metallic character. However, the ionization potential, electron affinity, chemical hardness, and relative energetic stability all show the length periodicity seen in the HOMO-LUMO gap, in contrast to the optical "charge transfer" transition and the static axial polarizability. These periodicities, due to a one-dimensional quantum size effect as originally modeled by Coulson in 1938, nevertheless cancel in the calculated Fermi energy, which varies smoothly toward a predicted bulk work function near 3.9 eV. A detailed study of C(190)H(20) with up to eight extra electrons or holes shows the total energy is closely fit by a simple classical charging model, as is commonly applied to metallic clusters.