Vibrational Properties of h-BN and h-BN-Graphene Heterostructures Probed by Inelastic Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy is a powerful technique for investigating lattice dynamics of nanoscale systems including graphene and small molecules, but establishing a stable tunnel junction is considered as a major hurdle in expanding the scope of tunneling experiments. Hexagonal boron...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2015-11, Vol.5 (1), p.16642-16642, Article 16642
Main Authors: Jung, Suyong, Park, Minkyu, Park, Jaesung, Jeong, Tae-Young, Kim, Ho-Jong, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Ha, Dong Han, Hwang, Chanyong, Kim, Yong-Sung
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/925/918/1052
639/925/927/1007
Boron
Graphite
Humanities and Social Sciences
Interfaces
multidisciplinary
Science
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
Vibrations
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Summary:Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy is a powerful technique for investigating lattice dynamics of nanoscale systems including graphene and small molecules, but establishing a stable tunnel junction is considered as a major hurdle in expanding the scope of tunneling experiments. Hexagonal boron nitride is a pivotal component in two-dimensional Van der Waals heterostructures as a high-quality insulating material due to its large energy gap and chemical-mechanical stability. Here we present planar graphene/ h -BN-heterostructure tunneling devices utilizing thin h -BN as a tunneling insulator. With much improved h -BN-tunneling-junction stability, we are able to probe all possible phonon modes of h -BN and graphite/graphene at Γ and K high symmetry points by inelastic tunneling spectroscopy. Additionally, we observe that low-frequency out-of-plane vibrations of h -BN and graphene lattices are significantly modified at heterostructure interfaces. Equipped with an external back gate, we can also detect high-order coupling phenomena between phonons and plasmons, demonstrating that h -BN-based tunneling device is a wonderful playground for investigating electron-phonon couplings in low-dimensional systems.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep16642