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Article: A review and outlook for an anomaly of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM): Superlattices on graphite

TitleA review and outlook for an anomaly of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM): Superlattices on graphite
Authors
Issue Date2005
PublisherInstitute of Physics Publishing. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.iop.org/Journals/jpd
Citation
Journal Of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2005, v. 38 n. 21, p. R329-R355 How to Cite?
AbstractSince its invention in 1981, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is well-known for its supreme imaging resolution enabling one to observe atomic-scale structures, which has led to the flourishing of nanoscience. As successful as it is, there still remain phenomena which are observed using STM but are beyond our understanding. Graphite is one of the surfaces which have been most extensively studied using STM. However, there are a number of unusual properties of graphite surfaces. First reported in the 1980s, superlattices on graphite have since been observed many times and by many groups, but as yet our understanding of this phenomenon is quite limited. Most of the observed superlattice phenomena are widely believed to be the result of a Moiré rotation pattern, arising from the misorientation between two graphite layers, as verified experimentally. A Moiré pattern is a lattice with larger periodicity resulting from the overlap of two lattices with smaller periodicities. As graphite layers are composed of hexagonal lattices with a periodicity of 0.246 nm, as observed using STM, when there are misoriented graphite layers overlapping each other, a Moiré pattern with larger periodicity, depending on the misorientation angle, will be produced and appear as a superperiodic hexagonal structure on top of the graphite atomic lattice of the topmost surface layer. It is important to study graphite superlattices because, firstly, knowledge of this phenomenon will enable us to properly interpret STM images; secondly, it helps us to understand the correlation between electronic structures and atomic-structure rearrangement of graphite which is of tremendous aid for engineering material properties; thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the observation of the phenomenon exhibits the capability of STM to produce images indicating the nature of internal defects which are below the surface. Over recent years, experimental and modelling techniques have been developed to study this anomalous regime of STM; however, there is a lack of a systematic classification of this scattered information. This review article thus serves the purpose of organizing all these results so as to enable a more comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. We review the discovery of graphite superlattices, the observation of the associated properties, and the research efforts on this subject. An effort is made to envision the future experimental and theoretical research possibilities to unveil the mystery of this anomaly of STM. Applications of graphite superlattices are also proposed. © 2005 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/155299
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 3.1
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.681
ISI Accession Number ID
References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorPong, WTen_US
dc.contributor.authorDurkan, Cen_US
dc.date.accessioned2012-08-08T08:32:46Z-
dc.date.available2012-08-08T08:32:46Z-
dc.date.issued2005en_US
dc.identifier.citationJournal Of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2005, v. 38 n. 21, p. R329-R355en_US
dc.identifier.issn0022-3727en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/155299-
dc.description.abstractSince its invention in 1981, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is well-known for its supreme imaging resolution enabling one to observe atomic-scale structures, which has led to the flourishing of nanoscience. As successful as it is, there still remain phenomena which are observed using STM but are beyond our understanding. Graphite is one of the surfaces which have been most extensively studied using STM. However, there are a number of unusual properties of graphite surfaces. First reported in the 1980s, superlattices on graphite have since been observed many times and by many groups, but as yet our understanding of this phenomenon is quite limited. Most of the observed superlattice phenomena are widely believed to be the result of a Moiré rotation pattern, arising from the misorientation between two graphite layers, as verified experimentally. A Moiré pattern is a lattice with larger periodicity resulting from the overlap of two lattices with smaller periodicities. As graphite layers are composed of hexagonal lattices with a periodicity of 0.246 nm, as observed using STM, when there are misoriented graphite layers overlapping each other, a Moiré pattern with larger periodicity, depending on the misorientation angle, will be produced and appear as a superperiodic hexagonal structure on top of the graphite atomic lattice of the topmost surface layer. It is important to study graphite superlattices because, firstly, knowledge of this phenomenon will enable us to properly interpret STM images; secondly, it helps us to understand the correlation between electronic structures and atomic-structure rearrangement of graphite which is of tremendous aid for engineering material properties; thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the observation of the phenomenon exhibits the capability of STM to produce images indicating the nature of internal defects which are below the surface. Over recent years, experimental and modelling techniques have been developed to study this anomalous regime of STM; however, there is a lack of a systematic classification of this scattered information. This review article thus serves the purpose of organizing all these results so as to enable a more comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. We review the discovery of graphite superlattices, the observation of the associated properties, and the research efforts on this subject. An effort is made to envision the future experimental and theoretical research possibilities to unveil the mystery of this anomaly of STM. Applications of graphite superlattices are also proposed. © 2005 IOP Publishing Ltd.en_US
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherInstitute of Physics Publishing. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.iop.org/Journals/jpden_US
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Physics D: Applied Physicsen_US
dc.titleA review and outlook for an anomaly of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM): Superlattices on graphiteen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.description.naturelink_to_subscribed_fulltexten_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/0022-3727/38/21/R01en_US
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-27544439127en_US
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-27544439127&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_US
dc.identifier.volume38en_US
dc.identifier.issue21en_US
dc.identifier.spageR329en_US
dc.identifier.epageR355en_US
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000237677400001-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdomen_US
dc.identifier.citeulike370038-
dc.identifier.issnl0022-3727-

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