Browsing by Author "Zheng, Husong"

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    STM Study of Interfaces and Defects in 2D Materials
    Zheng, Husong (Virginia Tech, 2020-03-23)
    Two-dimensional (2D) materials show novel electronic, optical and chemical properties and have great potential in devices such as field-effect transistors (FET), photodetectors and gas sensors. This thesis focuses on scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS) investigation of interfaces and defects 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). The first part of the thesis focuses on the synthesis of 2D TiSe2 with chemical vapor transport (CVT). By properly choosing the growth condition, Sub-10 nm TiSe2 flakes were successfully obtained. A 2 × 2 charge density wave (CDW) was clearly observed on these ultrathin flakes by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Accurate CDW phase transition temperature was measured by transport measurements. This work opens up a new approach to synthesize TMDCs. The second part of the thesis focuses on monolayer vacancy islands growing on TiSe2 surface under electrical stressing. We have observed nonlinear area evolution and growth from triangular to hexagonal driven by STM subjected electrical stressing. Our simulations of monolayer island evolution using phase-field modeling and first-principles calculations are in good agreement with our experimental observations. The results could be potentially important for device reliability in systems containing ultrathin TMDCs and related 2D materials subject to electrical stressing. The third part of the thesis focuses on point defects in 2D PtSe2. We observed five types of distinct defects from STM topography images and measured the local density of states (LDOS) of those defects from scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). We identified the types and characteristics of these defects with the first-principles calculations. Our findings would provide critical insight into tuning of carrier mobility, charge carrier relaxation, and electron-hole recombination rates by defect engineering or varying growth condition in few-layer 1T-PtSe2 and other related 2D materials.
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    Temperature Evolution of Quasi-one-dimensional C-60 Nanostructures on Rippled Graphene
    Chen, Chuanhui; Zheng, Husong; Mills, Adam; Heflin, James R.; Tao, Chenggang (Nature Publishing Group, 2015-09-22)
    We report the preparation of novel quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) C60 nanostructures on rippled graphene. Through careful control of the subtle balance between the linear periodic potential of rippled graphene and the C60 surface mobility, we demonstrate that C60 molecules can be arranged into a quasi-1D C60 chain structure with widths of two to three molecules. At a higher annealing temperature, the quasi-1D chain structure transitions to a more compact hexagonal close packed quasi-1D stripe structure. This first experimental realization of quasi-1D C60 structures on graphene may pave a way for fabricating new C60/graphene hybrid structures for future applications in electronics, spintronics and quantum information.