Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Two-dimensional materials under electron irradiation

  • Frontiers of in situ electron microscopy
  • Published:
MRS Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article reviews atomic-resolution in situ electron microscopy studies of two-dimensional materials such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and metal dichalcogenides with a focus on defect structures. Electron irradiation allows defect formation and atomic-resolution imaging at the same time by the same electron beam. Two-dimensional hexagonal lattices show unique mechanisms of defect reconstruction that do not appear in other materials. The combination of thermal annealing and irradiation, both adjustable in the electron microscope, sets a balance between equilibrium and nonequilibrium and allows for the generation of new structures and morphologies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. K.S. Novoselov, V.I. Falko, L. Colombo, P.R. Gellert, M.G. Schwab, K. Kim, Nature 490, 192 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. A.K. Geim, Science 324, 1530 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. W.-Q. Han, L. Wu, Y. Zhu, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, (2008).

  4. C. Lee, Q. Li, W. Kalb, X.-Z. Liu, H. Berger, R.W. Carpick, J. Hone, Science 328, 76 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Z. Zeng, Z. Yin, X. Huang, H. Li, Q. He, G. Lu, F. Boey, H. Zhang, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 11093 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. F. Banhart, J. Kotakoski, A.V. Krasheninnikov, ACS Nano 5, 26 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. A.V. Krasheninnikov, K. Nordlund, J. Appl. Phys. 107, 071301 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. A.W. Robertson, J.H. Warner, Nanoscale 5, 4079 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. A.W. Robertson, C.S. Allen, Y.A. Wu, K. He, J. Olivier, J. Neethling, A.I. Kirkland, J.H. Warner, Nat. Commun. 3, 1144 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. J.A. Rodriguez-Manzo, F. Banhart, Nano Lett. 9, 2285 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. J.A. Rodríguez-Manzo, O. Cretu, F. Banhart, ACS Nano 4, 3422 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. C. Jin, F. Lin, K. Suenaga, S. Iijima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 195505 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. H.-P. Komsa, J. Kotakoski, S. Kurasch, O. Lehtinen, U. Kaiser, A.V. Krasheninnikov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 035503 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. H.-P. Komsa, S. Kurasch, O. Lehtinen, U. Kaiser, A.V. Krasheninnikov, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 88, 035301 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. X. Liu, T. Xu, X. Wu, Z. Zhang, J. Yu, H. Qiu, J.-H. Hong, C.-H. Jin, J.-X. Li, X.-R. Wang, L.-T. Sun, W. Guo, Nat. Commun. 4, 1776 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. J.C. Meyer, A. Chuvilin, G. Algara-Siller, J. Biskupek, U. Kaiser, Nano Lett. 9, 2683 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. H. Qiu, T. Xu, Z. Wang, W. Ren, H. Nan, Z. Ni, Q. Chen, S. Yuan, F. Miao, F. Song, G. Long, Y. Shi, L. Sun, J. Wang, X. Wang, Nat. Commun. 4, 2642 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. J.C. Meyer, F. Eder, S. Kurasch, V. Skakalova, J. Kotakoski, H.J. Park, S. Roth, A. Chuvilin, S. Eyhusen, G. Benner, A.V. Krasheninnikov, U. Kaiser, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 196102 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. A. Chuvilin, J.C. Meyer, G. Algara-Siller, U. Kaiser, New J. Phys. 11, 083019 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. C. Jin, H. Lan, L. Peng, K. Suenaga, S. Iijima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 205501 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. L. He, T. Xu, J. Sun, K. Yin, X. Xie, L. Ding, H. Xiu, L. Sun, Carbon 50, 2845 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. W. Neng, X. Jun, X. Tao, M. Martini, S. Li-tao, S. Jun, Z. Yi-long, RSC Adv. 3, 17860 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. T. Xu, X. Xie, L. Sun, 8th Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/ Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems (IEEE Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2013), p. 637.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  24. T. Xu, X. Xie, K. Yin, J. Sun, L. He, L. Sun, Small 10, 1724 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. T. Xu, K. Yin, X. Xie, L. He, B. Wang, L. Sun, Small 8, 3422 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. J. Lin, O. Cretu, W. Zhou, K. Suenaga, D. Prasai, K.I. Bolotin, N.T. Cuong, M. Otani, S. Okada, A.R. Lupini, J.-C. Idrobo, D. Caudel, A. Burger, N.J. Ghimire, J. Yan, D.G. Mandrus, S.J. Pennycook, S.T. Pantelides, Nat. Nanotechnol. 9, 436 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. W. Neng, L.-T. Sun, X.-H. Hu, Y.-Y. Zhu, Z. Lin, X. Tao, H.-C. Bi, S. Jun, F.-Z. Dong, Cryst. Growth Des. 12, 3899 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. F. Banhart, Rep. Prog. Phys. 62, 1181 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. J. Chen, T. Shi, T. Cai, T. Xu, L. Sun, X. Wu, D. Yu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 103107 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. L. Li, S. Reich, J. Robertson, Phys. Rev. B 72, 184109 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. A.V. Krasheninnikov, F. Banhart, Nat. Mater. 6, 723 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. C.J. Russo, J.A. Golovchenko, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 5953 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. J.C. Meyer, C. Kisielowski, R. Erni, M.D. Rossell, M.F. Crommie, A. Zettl, Nano Lett. 8, 3582 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. A.W. Robertson, B. Montanari, K. He, C.S. Allen, Y.A. Wu, N.M. Harrison A.I. Kirkland, J.H. Warner, ACS Nano 7, 4495 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. J. Lee, W. Zhou, S.J. Pennycook, J.-C. Idrobo, S.T. Pantelides, Nat. Commun. 4, 1650 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. W. Zhou, M.D. Kapetanakis, M.P. Prange, S.T. Pantelides, S.J. Pennycook, J.-C. Idrobo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 206803 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. A.W. Robertson, B. Montanari, K. He, J. Kim, C.S. Allen, Y.A. Wu, J. Olivier, J. Neethling, N. Harrison, A.I. Kirkland, J.H. Warner, Nano Lett. 13, 1468 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. A. Krasheninnikov, P. Lehtinen, A. Foster, R. Nieminen, Chem. Phys. Lett. 418, 132 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. J. Kotakoski, A. Krasheninnikov, K. Nordlund, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 74, 245420 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. J. Kotakoski, A. Krasheninnikov, U. Kaiser, J. Meyer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 105505 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. F.R. Eder, J. Kotakoski, U. Kaiser, J.C. Meyer, Sci. Rep. 4, 4060 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. J.H. Warner, E.R. Margine, M. Mukai, A.W. Robertson, F. Giustino, A.I. Kirkland, Science 337, 209 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. A. Hashimoto, K. Suenaga, A. Gloter, K. Urita, S. Iijima, Nature 430, 870 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. O. Lehtinen, S. Kurasch, A.V. Krasheninnikov, U. Kaiser, Nat. Commun. 4, 2098 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. O.V. Yazyev, S.G. Louie, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 81, 195420 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. B.W. Jeong, J. Ihm, G.-D. Lee, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 78, 165403 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Ç.Ö. Girit, J.C. Meyer, R. Erni, M.D. Rossell, C. Kisielowski, L. Yang, C.-H. Park, M.F. Crommie, M.L. Cohen, S.G. Louie, A. Zettl, Science 323, 1705 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. B. Song, G.F. Schneider, Q. Xu, G. Pandraud, C. Dekker, H. Zandbergen, Nano Lett. 11, 2247 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. J.H. Warner, M.H. Rummeli, L. Ge, T. Gemming, B. Montanari, N.M. Harrison, B. Buchner, G.A.D. Briggs, Nat. Nanotechnol. 4, 500 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. K. Kim, S. Coh, C. Kisielowski, M.F. Crommie, S.G. Louie, M.L. Cohen, A. Zettl, Nat. Commun. 4, 2723 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. R. Zan, Q.M. Ramasse, U. Bangert, K.S. Novoselov, Nano Lett. 12, 3936 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. K. He, G.-D. Lee, A.W. Robertson, E. Yoon, J.H. Warner, Nat. Commun. 5, 3040 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. P. Koskinen, S. Malola, H. Häkkinen, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 80, 073401 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Z. Liu, K. Suenaga, P.J.F. Harris, S. Iijima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 015501 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. O. Cretu, A.R. Botello-Mendez, I. Janowska, C. Pham-Huu, J.-C. Charlier, F. Banhart, Nano Lett. 13, 3487 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. A.V. Krasheninnikov, K. Nordlund, J. Keinonen, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 65, 165423 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. J.H. Warner, Y. Fan, A.W. Robertson, K. He, E. Yoon, G.D. Lee, Nano Lett. 13, 4937 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. A.W. Robertson, K. He, A.I. Kirkland, J.H. Warner, Nano Lett. 14, 908 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. A. Chuvilin, U. Kaiser, E. Bichoutskaia, N.A. Besley, A.N. Khlobystov, Nat. Chem. 2, 450 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. J. Kotakoski, C. Mangler, J.C. Meyer, Nat. Commun. 5, 3991 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. A.W. Robertson, G.-D. Lee, K. He, E. Yoon, A.I. Kirkland, J.H. Warner, Nano Lett. 14, 1634 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. S. Kurasch, J. Kotakoski, O. Lehtinen, V. Skákalová, J. Smet, C.E. Krill, A.V. Krasheninnikov, U. Kaiser, Nano Lett. 12, 3168 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. H. Wang, Q. Wang, Y. Cheng, K. Li, Y. Yao, Q. Zhang, C. Dong, P. Wang, U. Schwingenschlögl, W. Yang, X.X. Zhang, Nano Lett. 12, 141 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. J. Zhao, Q. Deng, A. Bachmatiuk, G. Sandeep, A. Popov, J. Eckert, M.H. Rümmeli, Science 343, 1228 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. F. Banhart, Nanoscale 1, 201 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Y. Gan, L. Sun, F. Banhart, Small 4, 587 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Z. He, K. He, A.W. Robertson, A.I. Kirkland, D. Kim, J. Ihm, E. Yoon, G.-D. Lee, J.H. Warner, Nano Lett. 14, 3766 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. J.A. Rodríguez-Manzo, C. Pham-Huu, F. Banhart, ACS Nano 5, 1529 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. O. Cretu, J.A. Rodríguez-Manzo, A. Demortière, F. Banhart, Carbon 50, 259 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  70. O. Cretu, A.V. Krasheninnikov, J.A. Rodriguez-Manzo, L.T. Sun, F. Banhart, R.M. Nieminen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 196102 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  71. W.L. Wang, E. Santos, B. Jiang, E. Cubuk, C. Ophus, A. Centeno, A. Pesquera, A. Zurutuza, J. Ciston, R.M. Westervelt, Nano Lett. 14, 450 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  72. H. Wang, K. Li, Y. Cheng, Q. Wang, Y. Yao, U. Schwingenschlögl, X. Zhang, W. Yang, Nanoscale 4, 2920 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  73. R. Erni, M.D. Rossell, M.-T. Nguyen, S. Blankenburg, D. Passerone, P. Hartel, N. Alem, K. Erickson, W. Gannett, A. Zettl, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 82, 165443 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. J.H. Warner, Z. Liu, K. He, A.W. Robertson, K. Suenaga, Nano Lett. 13, 4820 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  75. A. Krasheninnikov, P. Lehtinen, A. Foster, P. Pyykkö, R. Nieminen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 126807 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. N. Alem, R. Erni, C. Kisielowski, M.D. Rossell, W. Gannett, A. Zettl, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 80, 155425 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  77. J. Kotakoski, C. Jin, O. Lehtinen, K. Suenaga, A. Krasheninnikov, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 82, 113404 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  78. A. Zobelli, A. Gloter, C. Ewels, G. Seifert, C. Colliex, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter 75, 245402 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  79. O. Cretu, Y.-C. Lin, K. Suenaga, Nano Lett. 14, 1064 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  80. A.L. Gibb, N. Alem, J.-H. Chen, K.J. Erickson, J. Ciston, A. Gautam, M. Linck, A. Zettl, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135, 6758 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  81. J.H. Warner, M.H. Rümmeli, A. Bachmatiuk, B. Büchner, ACS Nano 4, 1299 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  82. X. Wei, M.-S. Wang, Y. Bando, D. Golberg, ACS Nano 5, 2916 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  83. O.L. Krivanek, M.F. Chisholm, V. Nicolosi, T.J. Pennycook, G.J. Corbin, N. Dellby, M.F. Murfitt, C.S. Own, Z.S. Szilagyi, M.P. Oxley, S.T. Pantelides, S.J. Pennycook, Nature 464, 571 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  84. L. Ci, L. Song, C. Jin, D. Jariwala, D. Wu, Y. Li, A. Srivastava, Z.F. Wang, K. Storr, L. Balicas, F. Liu, P.M. Ajayan, Nat. Mater. 9, 430 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  85. L.P. Hansen, Q.M. Ramasse, C. Kisielowski, M. Brorson, E. Johnson, H. Topsøe, S. Helveg, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 50, 10153 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  86. Z. Liu, K. Suenaga, Z. Wang, Z. Shi, E. Okunishi, S. Iijima, Nat. Commun. 2, 213 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  87. Y.-C. Lin, D.O. Dumcenco, Y.-S. Huang, K. Suenaga, Nat. Nanotechnol. 9, 391 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  88. R. Zan, Q.M. Ramasse, R. Jalil, T. Georgiou, U. Bangert, K.S. Novoselov, ACS Nano 7, 10167 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  89. G. Algara-Siller, S. Kurasch, M. Sedighi, O. Lehtinen, U. Kaiser, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 203107 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  90. W. Zhou, M.D. Kapetanakis, M.P. Prange, S.T. Pantelides, S.J. Pennycook, J.-C. Idrobo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 206803 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to T. Xu, K. Yin, X. Xie, Y. Zhou, Y. Shen, A. Krasheninnikov, J.A. Rodríguez-Manzo, O. Cretu, M. Terrones, P.M. Ajayan, H.Kroto, R. Ruoff, J. Kotakoski, H. Zhang, D. Yu, X. Wang, W. Guo, G. Zhang, J. Wang, Z. Ni, C. Jin, J. Li, and Y. Gan for scientific collaborations in the areas covered in this review. L.S. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant 2011CB707601; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61274114, 51420105003, 113279028, and 51071044; and the Natural Science Foundation and Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province under Grants BK2011592 and BK2012024. J.W. thanks the Royal Society for support. F.B. is indebted to the French Agence Nationale de Recherche for financial support through Grants NANO-CONTACTS and NANOCELLS (ANR12 BS1000401).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Lab of MEMS of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, China

    Litao Sun

  2. IPCMS, UMR 7504 CNRS, University of Strasbourg, France

    Florian Banhart

  3. Department of Materials, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

    Jamie Warner

Authors
  1. Litao Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Florian Banhart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jamie Warner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, L., Banhart, F. & Warner, J. Two-dimensional materials under electron irradiation. MRS Bulletin 40, 29–37 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2014.303

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2014.303

Search

Navigation