Mn atomic layers under inert covers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride prepared on Rh（111）

• Published in: 纳米研究：英文版 2013, Vol.6 (12), p.887-896
• Main Author: Yu Zhang Yanfeng Zhang Donglin Ma Qingqing Ji Wei Fang Jianping Shi Teng Gao Mengxi Liu Yabo Gao Yubin Chen Limei Xu Zhongfan Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 六方氮化硼; 制备; 原子层; 惰性; 扫描隧道显微镜; 石墨; 锰簇
• ISSN: 1998-0124; 1998-0000

Intercalation of metal atoms into the interface of graphene and its supporting substrate has become an intriguing topic for the sake of weakening the interface coupling and constructing metal atomic layers under inert covers. However, this novel behavior has rarely been reported on the analogous hexagonal boron nitride （h-BN） synthesized on metal substrates. Here, we describe a comparative study of Mn intercalation into the interfaces of graphene/Rh（111） and h-BN/Rh（111）, by using atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy （STM） and density functional theory （DFT） calculations. The intercalation was performed by annealing as-deposited Mn clusters, and the starting temperature of Mn intercalation into h-BN/Rh（111） was found to be ~80 ~C higher than that for graphene/Rh（111）. Moreover, the intercalated islands of h-BN/Mn/Rh（111） usually possess more irregular shapes than those of graphene/Mn/Rh（111）, as illustrated by temperature-dependent STM observations. All these experimental facts suggest a stronger interaction of Mn with h-BN/Rh（111） than that with graphene/Rh（111）.