Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
Nano Lett. 2011 Jun 8;11(6):2247-50. doi: 10.1021/nl200369r. Epub 2011 May 23.
In order to harvest the many promising properties of graphene in (electronic) applications, a technique is required to cut, shape, or sculpt the material on the nanoscale without inducing damage to its atomic structure, as this drastically influences the electronic properties of the nanostructure. Here, we reveal a temperature-dependent self-repair mechanism that allows near-damage-free atomic-scale sculpting of graphene using a focused electron beam. We demonstrate that by sculpting at temperatures above 600 °C, an intrinsic self-repair mechanism keeps the graphene in a single-crystalline state during cutting, even though the electron beam induces considerable damage. Self-repair is mediated by mobile carbon ad-atoms that constantly repair the defects caused by the electron beam. Our technique allows reproducible fabrication and simultaneous imaging of single-crystalline free-standing nanoribbons, nanotubes, nanopores, and single carbon chains.
为了在（电子）应用中充分利用石墨烯的多种有前景的特性，需要一种技术来在纳米尺度上切割、塑造或雕刻材料，而不会对其原子结构造成损伤，因为这会极大地影响纳米结构的电子特性。在这里，我们揭示了一种温度相关的自修复机制，该机制允许使用聚焦电子束在几乎无损的情况下对石墨烯进行原子尺度的雕刻。我们证明，通过在 600°C 以上的温度下进行雕刻，即使电子束会引起相当大的损伤，一种内在的自修复机制也能使石墨烯在切割过程中保持单晶状态。自修复是由移动的碳 ad-atoms 介导的，它们不断修复电子束引起的缺陷。我们的技术允许对单晶独立纳米带、纳米管、纳米孔和单碳链进行可重复的制造和同时成像。
