Step flow versus mosaic film growth in hexagonal boron nitride.

Many emerging applications of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) in graphene-based nanoelectronics require high-quality monolayers as the ultrathin dielectric. Here, the nucleation and growth of h-BN monolayer on Ru(0001) surface are investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy with a view toward understanding the process of defect formation on a strongly interacted interface. In contrast to homoelemental bonding in graphene, the heteroelemental nature of h-BN gives rise to growth fronts with elemental polarity.

Strain dependence of the heat transport properties of graphene nanoribbons.

Using a combination of accurate density-functional theory and a nonequilibrium Green's function method, we calculate the ballistic thermal conductance characteristics of tensile-strained armchair (AGNR) and zigzag (ZGNR) edge graphene nanoribbons, with widths between 3 and 50 Å. The optimized lateral lattice constants for AGNRs of different widths display a three-family behavior when the ribbons are grouped according to N modulo 3, where N represents the number of carbon atoms across the width of the ribbon. Two lowest-frequency out-of-plane acoustic modes play a decisive role in increasing the thermal conductance of AGNR-N at low temperatures.

Using the graphene Moiré pattern for the trapping of C60 and homoepitaxy of graphene.

The graphene Moiré superstructure offers a complex landscape of humps and valleys to molecules adsorbing and diffusing on it. Using C(60) molecules as the classic hard sphere analogue, we examine its assembly and layered growth on this corrugated landscape. At the monolayer level, the cohesive interactions of C(60) molecules adsorbing on the Moiré lattice freeze the molecular rotation of C(60) trapped in the valley sites, resulting in molecular alignment of all similarly trapped C(60) molecules at room temperature.

Transforming C60 molecules into graphene quantum dots.

The fragmentation of fullerenes using ions, surface collisions or thermal effects is a complex process that typically leads to the formation of small carbon clusters of variable size. Here, we show that geometrically well-defined graphene quantum dots can be synthesized on a ruthenium surface using C(60) molecules as a precursor. Scanning tunnelling microscopy imaging, supported by density functional theory calculations, suggests that the structures are formed through the ruthenium-catalysed cage-opening of C(60).