Scientists are 'planting' pairs of atoms into carbon to build the smallest electrical switches ever made.
While we could move single atoms before, controlling multi-atom 'dimers' within graphene is a major leap. This precision allows for the creation of custom-built quantum components and catalysts that were previously impossible to manufacture.
Substitutional Mn dimers in graphene created by ultralow-energy cluster-ion implantation
SSRN · 6552006
Despite advances in single-atom doping, the controlled assembly of multi-atom defects in 2D materials remains difficult, limiting the ability to tailor their electronic, magnetic, or catalytic functionality. Here, we demonstrate that ultralow-energy (82 eV) implantation of mass-selected Mn2 cluster ions into monolayer graphene enables the formation of substitutional Mn dimers. Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, supported by density-functional theory calculations, rev