Probing interlayer van der Waals strengths of two-dimensional surfaces and defects, through STM tip-induced elastic deformations

N. Sarkar, P. R. Bandaru, R. C. Dynes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

A methodology to test the interlayer bonding strength of two-dimensional (2D) surfaces and associated one (1D)- and two (2D)- dimensional surface defects using scanning tunneling microscope tip-induced deformation, is demonstrated. Surface elastic deformation characteristics of soft 2D monatomic sheets of graphene and graphite in contrast to NbSe2 indicates related association with the underlying local bonding configurations. Surface deformation of 2D graphitic moiré patterns reveal the inter-layer van der Waals strength varying across its domains. These results help in the understanding of the comparable interlayer bonding strength of 1D grain boundary as well as the grains. Anomalous phenomena related to probing 2D materials at small gap distances as a function of strain is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number15LT01
JournalNanotechnology
Volume34
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 9 2023
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was supported by AFOSR Grant (FA9550–15–1–0218) and Army Research Office (AROW911NF-21–1–0041). The authors wish to thank Michael Rezin for the technical assistance; Prof Shane Cybart, Uday Sravan Goteti and Hidenori Yamada for useful discussions.

Keywords

  • atomic deformation
  • moiré pattern
  • scanning tunneling microscopy
  • van der Waals

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