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Single step fabrication of N-doped graphene/Si3N4/SiC heterostructures

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Abstract

In-plane heteroatom substitution of graphene is a promising strategy to modify its properties. The ability to dope graphene with electron-donor nitrogen heteroatoms is highly important for modulating electrical properties of graphene. Here we demonstrate a transfer-free method to directly grow large area quasi free-standing N-doped graphene bilayers on an insulating substrate (Si3N4). Electron-bombardment heating under nitrogen flux results in simultaneous growth of N-doped graphene and a Si3N4 layer on the SiC surface. The decoupling of N-doped graphene from the substrate and the presence of Si3N4 are identified by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction. The substitution of nitrogen atoms in the graphene planes was confirmed using high resolution X-ray photoemission spectroscopy which reveals several atomic configurations for the nitrogen atoms: Graphitic-like, pyridine-like, and pyrroliclike. Furthermore, we demonstrated for the first time that N-doped graphene could be used to efficiently probe oxygen molecules via nitrogen atom defects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS-Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures (LPN), Route de Nozay, Marcoussis, 91460, France

    Emilio Vélez-Fort, Emiliano Pallecchi, Mounib Bahri, Gilles Patriarche & Abdelkarim Ouerghi

  2. Université Pierre et Marie Curie (CNRS — IMPMC), 4 Pl. Jussieu, Paris, 75005, France

    Emilio Vélez-Fort & Abhay Shukla

  3. Synchrotron-SOLEIL, Saint-Aubin, BP48, F91192, Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France

    Mathieu G. Silly & Fausto Sirotti

Authors
  1. Emilio Vélez-Fort
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  2. Emiliano Pallecchi
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  3. Mathieu G. Silly
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  8. Abdelkarim Ouerghi
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Correspondence to Abdelkarim Ouerghi.

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Vélez-Fort, E., Pallecchi, E., Silly, M.G. et al. Single step fabrication of N-doped graphene/Si3N4/SiC heterostructures. Nano Res. 7, 835–843 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0444-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0444-9

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