Molekulární nanostruktury na površích

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Rapid oxygen exchange between hematite and water vapor
(Nature Portfolio, 2021-11-10) Jakub, Zdeněk; Meier, Matthias; Kraushofer, Florian; Balajka, Jan; Pavelec, Jiří; Schmid, Michael; Franchini, Cesare; Diebold, Ulrike; Parkinson, Gareth S.
Oxygen exchange at oxide/liquid and oxide/gas interfaces is important in technology and environmental studies, as it is closely linked to both catalytic activity and material degradation. The atomic-scale details are mostly unknown, however, and are often ascribed to poorly defined defects in the crystal lattice. Here we show that even thermodynamically stable, well-ordered surfaces can be surprisingly reactive. Specifically, we show that all the 3-fold coordinated lattice oxygen atoms on a defect-free single-crystalline "r-cut" (1 (1) over bar 02) surface of hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) are exchanged with oxygen from surrounding water vapor within minutes at temperatures below 70 degrees C, while the atomic-scale surface structure is unperturbed by the process. A similar behavior is observed after liquid-water exposure, but the experimental data clearly show most of the exchange happens during desorption of the final monolayer, not during immersion. Density functional theory computations show that the exchange can happen during on-surface diffusion, where the cost of the lattice oxygen extraction is compensated by the stability of an HO-HOH-OH complex. Such insights into lattice oxygen stability are highly relevant for many research fields ranging from catalysis and hydrogen production to geochemistry and paleoclimatology.
Single-layer graphene on epitaxial FeRh thin films
(ELSEVIER, 2020-06-01) Uhlíř, Vojtěch; Pressacco, Frederico; Arregi Uribeetxebarria, Jon Ander; Procházka, Pavel; Průša, Stanislav; Potoček, Michal; Šikola, Tomáš; Čechal, Jan; Bendounan, Azzedine; Sirotti, F.
Graphene is a 2D material that displays excellent electronic transport properties with prospective applications in many fields. Inducing and controlling magnetism in the graphene layer, for instance by proximity of magnetic materials, may enable its utilization in spintronic devices. This paper presents fabrication and detailed characterization of single-layer graphene formed on the surface of epitaxial FeRh thin films. The magnetic state of the FeRh surface can be controlled by temperature, magnetic field or strain due to interconnected order parameters. Characterization of graphene layers by X-ray Photoemission and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Low-Energy Ion Scattering, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, and Low-Energy Electron Microscopy shows that graphene is single-layer, polycrystalline and covers more than 97% of the substrate. Graphene displays several preferential orientations on the FeRh(0 0 1) surface with unit vectors of graphene rotated by 30 degrees, 15 degrees, 11 degrees, and 19 degrees with respect to FeRh substrate unit vectors. In addition, the graphene layer is capable to protect the films from oxidation when exposed to air for several months. Therefore, it can be also used as a protective layer during fabrication of magnetic elements or as an atomically thin spacer, which enables incorporation of switchable magnetic layers within stacks of 2D materials in advanced devices.
Step-edge assisted large scale FeSe monolayer growth on epitaxial Bi(2)Se(3)thin films
(IOP Publishing, 2020-07-01) Fikáček, Jan; Procházka, Pavel; Stetsovych, Vitalii; Průša, Stanislav; Vondráček, Martin; Kormoš, Lukáš; Skála, Tomáš; Vlaic, Petru; Caha, Ondřej; Carva, Karel; Čechal, Jan; Springholz, Gunther; Honolka, Jan
Enhanced superconductivity of FeSe in the 2D limit on oxide surfaces as well as the prediction oftopological superconductivityat the interface to topological insulators makes the fabrication of Fe-chalcogenide monolayers a topic of current interest. So far superconductive properties of the latter are mostly studied by scanning tunneling spectroscopy, which can detect gaps in the local density of states as an indicator for Cooper pairing. Direct macroscopic transport properties, which can prove or falsify a true superconducting phase, are yet widely unexplored due to the difficulty to grow monolayer films with homogeneous material properties on a larger scale. Here we report on a promising route to fabricate micron-scale continuous carpets of monolayer thick FeSe on Bi(2)Se(3)topological insulators. In contrast to previous procedures based on ultraflat bulk Bi(2)Se(3)surfaces, we use molecular beam epitaxy grown Bi(2)Se(3)films with high step-edge densities (terrace widths 10-100 nm). We observe that step edges promote the almost strainless growth of coalescing FeSe domains without compromising the underlying Bi(2)Se(3)crystal structure.
Oxygen-Terminated (1x1) Reconstruction of Reduced Magnetite Fe3O4(111)
(American Chemical Society, 2023-04-06) Kraushofer, Florian; Meier, Matthias; Jakub, Zdeněk; Hutner, Johanna; Balajka, Jan; Hulva, Jan; Schmid, Michael; Franchini, Cesare; Diebold, Ulrike; Parkinson, Gareth S.
The (111) facet of magnetite (Fe3O4) has been studied extensively by experimental and theoretical methods, but controversy remains regarding the structure of its low-energy surface terminations. Using density functional theory (DFT) computations, we demonstrate three reconstructions that are more favorable than the accepted Feoct2 termination under reducing conditions. All three structures change the coordination of iron in the kagome Feoct1 layer to be tetrahedral. With atomically resolved microscopy techniques, we show that the termination that coexists with the Fetet1 termination consists of tetrahedral iron capped by 3-fold coordinated oxygen atoms. This structure explains the inert nature of the reduced patches.
Counting statistics of single electron transport in bilayer graphene quantum dots
(American Physical Society, 2023-01-24) Garreis, Rebekka; Gerber, Jonas Daniel; Stará, Veronika; Tong, Chuyao; Gold, Carolin; Röösli, Marc; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Ensslin, Klaus; Ihn, Thomas; Kurzmann, Annika
We measured telegraph noise of current fluctuations in an electrostatically defined quantum dot in bilayer graphene by real-time detection of single electron tunneling with capacitively coupled neighboring quantum dot. Suppresion of the second and third cumulant (related to shot noise) in a tunable graphene quantum dot is demonstrated experimentally. With this method we demonstrate the ability to measure very low current and noise levels. Furthermore, we use this method to investigate the first spin excited state, an essential prerequisite to emasure spin relaxation

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