Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations
Abstract Contamination on two-dimensional (2D) crystal surfaces poses serious limitations on fundamental studies and applications of 2D crystals. Surface residues induce uncontrolled doping and charge carrier scattering in 2D crystals, and trapped residues in mechanically assembled 2D vertical heter...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
SpringerOpen
2020-11-01
|
Series: | Applied Microscopy |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42649-020-00048-1 |
id |
doaj-3aab11e536b542bfa72cbecf80f5705e |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-3aab11e536b542bfa72cbecf80f5705e2020-12-06T12:29:02ZengSpringerOpenApplied Microscopy2287-44452020-11-015011610.1186/s42649-020-00048-1Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizationsDong-Gyu Kim0Sol Lee1Kwanpyo Kim2Department of Physics, Yonsei UniversityDepartment of Physics, Yonsei UniversityDepartment of Physics, Yonsei UniversityAbstract Contamination on two-dimensional (2D) crystal surfaces poses serious limitations on fundamental studies and applications of 2D crystals. Surface residues induce uncontrolled doping and charge carrier scattering in 2D crystals, and trapped residues in mechanically assembled 2D vertical heterostructures often hinder coupling between stacked layers. Developing a process that can reduce the surface residues on 2D crystals is important. In this study, we explored the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to remove surface residues from 2D crystals. Using various transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations, we confirmed that surface residues on graphene samples can be effectively removed via contact-mode AFM scanning. The mechanical cleaning process dramatically increases the residue-free areas, where high-resolution imaging of graphene layers can be obtained. We believe that our mechanical cleaning process can be utilized to prepare high-quality 2D crystal samples with minimum surface residues.https://doi.org/10.1186/s42649-020-00048-1Atomic force microscopyMechanical cleaning of 2D crystalsPDMS residuesMechanical transfer |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Dong-Gyu Kim Sol Lee Kwanpyo Kim |
spellingShingle |
Dong-Gyu Kim Sol Lee Kwanpyo Kim Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations Applied Microscopy Atomic force microscopy Mechanical cleaning of 2D crystals PDMS residues Mechanical transfer |
author_facet |
Dong-Gyu Kim Sol Lee Kwanpyo Kim |
author_sort |
Dong-Gyu Kim |
title |
Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations |
title_short |
Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations |
title_full |
Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations |
title_fullStr |
Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for TEM characterizations |
title_sort |
mechanical removal of surface residues on graphene for tem characterizations |
publisher |
SpringerOpen |
series |
Applied Microscopy |
issn |
2287-4445 |
publishDate |
2020-11-01 |
description |
Abstract Contamination on two-dimensional (2D) crystal surfaces poses serious limitations on fundamental studies and applications of 2D crystals. Surface residues induce uncontrolled doping and charge carrier scattering in 2D crystals, and trapped residues in mechanically assembled 2D vertical heterostructures often hinder coupling between stacked layers. Developing a process that can reduce the surface residues on 2D crystals is important. In this study, we explored the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to remove surface residues from 2D crystals. Using various transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations, we confirmed that surface residues on graphene samples can be effectively removed via contact-mode AFM scanning. The mechanical cleaning process dramatically increases the residue-free areas, where high-resolution imaging of graphene layers can be obtained. We believe that our mechanical cleaning process can be utilized to prepare high-quality 2D crystal samples with minimum surface residues. |
topic |
Atomic force microscopy Mechanical cleaning of 2D crystals PDMS residues Mechanical transfer |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42649-020-00048-1 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT donggyukim mechanicalremovalofsurfaceresiduesongraphenefortemcharacterizations AT sollee mechanicalremovalofsurfaceresiduesongraphenefortemcharacterizations AT kwanpyokim mechanicalremovalofsurfaceresiduesongraphenefortemcharacterizations |
_version_ |
1724398716402532352 |