Line defects guided molecular patterning on graphene

YJ Huang and SZ Zhu and T Li, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 104, 093102 (2014).

DOI: 10.1063/1.4867534

Graphene emerges as a candidate scaffold for patterning molecules. Despite existing progresses, it still remains unclear how to achieve molecular self-assembly in domains of desirable geometry. We reveal a barrier effect of line defects (e.g., open slits) in graphene, which can potentially enable molecular confining and patterning in a domain of desirable geometry. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that fullerene molecules can be readily patterned into a stable cluster of various shapes and sizes. Such a strategy is expected to be applicable to pattern various types of molecules that interact with graphene via van der Waals force. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

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