Boron-induced transformation of ultrathin Au films into two-dimensional metallic nanostructures.

The synthesis of large, freestanding, single-atom-thick two-dimensional (2D) metallic materials remains challenging due to the isotropic nature of metallic bonding. Here, we present a bottom-up approach for fabricating macroscopically large, nearly freestanding 2D gold (Au) monolayers, consisting of nanostructured patches. By forming Au monolayers on an Ir(111) substrate and embedding boron (B) atoms at the Au/Ir interface, we achieve suspended monoatomic Au sheets with hexagonal structures and triangular nanoscale patterns.

Stabilization competing de-metalation, trans-metalation and (cyclo)-dehydrogenation of Pd porphyrins at a copper surface.

Metal-porphyrins are studied intensively due their potential applications, deriving from the variety of electronic and chemical properties, tunable by selecting metal centers and functional groups. Metalation, de- and trans-metalation processes are fundamental in this sense to investigate both the synthesis and the stability of these molecular building blocks. More specifically, Pd coordination in tetrapyrroles revealed to be potentially interesting in the fields of cancer therapy, drug delivery and light harvesting.

2D Vanadium Sulfides: Synthesis, Atomic Structure Engineering, and Charge Density Waves.

Two ultimately thin vanadium-rich 2D materials based on VS are created via molecular beam epitaxy and investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The controlled synthesis of stoichiometric single-layer VS or either of the two vanadium-rich materials is achieved by varying the sample coverage and sulfur pressure during annealing. Through annealing of small stoichiometric single-layer VS islands without S pressure, S-vacancies spontaneously order in 1D arrays, giving rise to patterned adsorption.

Growth and Redox Properties of Boron on Al(111): Competing Affinities in the Case of Honeycomb AlB.

The complexity of the geometric and electronic structure of boron allotropes is associated with the multicentric bonding character and the consequent B polymorphism. When growth is limited to two-dimensions (2D), the structural and electronic confinement yields the borophenes family, where the interaction with the templating substrate actually determines the stability of inequivalent boron phases. We report here a detailed study of the growth of the honeycomb AlB phase on Al(111), followed by an investigation of its oxidation and reduction properties.

MAXPEEM: a spectromicroscopy beamline at MAX IV laboratory.

MAXPEEM, a dedicated photoemission electron microscopy beamline at MAX IV Laboratory, houses a state-of-the-art aberration-corrected spectroscopic photoemission and low-energy electron microscope (AC-SPELEEM). This powerful instrument offers a wide range of complementary techniques providing structural, chemical and magnetic sensitivities with a single-digit nanometre spatial resolution. The beamline can deliver a high photon flux of ≥10 photons s (0.