Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are among the most studied ones nowadays, because of their unique properties. They are made of single- or few-atom-thick layers whose variation in the stacking sequence may result in a variety of crystallographic structures, whether they are assembled by van der Waals forces or covalently bonded. Although identifying both the number of layers and the stacking sequence is of an utmost importance because of the driving role these parameters have on the properties, there is currently no technique available to do so. We demonstrate here that combining low energy (1–10 keV) electron diffraction with the usual high energy (> 50 keV) electron diffraction on the same 2D object is able to fill the gap. We illustrate this by taking the examples of a variety of 2D materials, built from either a single type of atom with low Z-number such as graphene (C), or two types of atoms with low Z-number such as diamane (C2H), or two types of atoms with high Z-number such as MoS2. Meanwhile, we propose a simplified method for comparing calculated patterns to experimental ones, and discuss the limitation of the technique.
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Most of the data are provided either in the main article, or a Supplementary Information. Any data missing or materials are available upon request to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank R. Ruoff for stimulating discussions.
Funding
This work is funded by the EUR grant NanoX n° ANR-17-EURE-0009 in the framework of the French "Programme des Investissements d’Avenir" and by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Dominican Republic (2016–2017 and 2018 FONDOCyT programs).
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P.P. is at the origin of the methodology principle and performed the calculations. I.G. contributed to the calculations and supplied information on MoS2. F.P. provided the 2LG materials and carried out the low-voltage electron diffraction work. M.M. wrote most of the paper. All the authors contributed to discussing the results and the manuscript versions.
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339_2021_4568_MOESM1_ESM.docx
Supporting Information are provided, reminding the basics on the possible stacking sequences in graphene, giving details on the methodology proposed to calculate spot intensities in the diffraction patterns, and providing further data. (DOCX 939 kb)
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Puech, P., Gerber, I.C., Piazza, F. et al. Combining low and high electron energy diffractions as a powerful tool for studying 2D materials. Appl. Phys. A 127, 485 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04568-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04568-9