Scanning tunneling microscope study of striated carbon ridges in few-layer epitaxial graphene formed on 4H-silicon carbide (0001)

Authors

S. E. Harrison
M. A. Capano
R. Reifenberger

Published in:

Applied Physics Letters 96,8 (2010)

Link to original published article:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3323092

Abstract

Atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscope images of carbon ridge defects found in few-layer graphene formed on the C-face (0001) of 4H-silicon carbide reveal a striated exterior surface formed from out-of-plane distortions of the hexagonal graphene lattice. While ridge formation is likely explained by compressive in-plane stresses coupled with the small values of the bending modulus for few-layer graphene, the striated structure along the ridges argues for a localized unidirectional stress in the material directed along the ridge length.

Date of this Version

February 2010