Graphene: Growing Suspended Graphene on C₆₀ Molecules (Small 24/2012)

The bending rigidity of graphene and inplane strain can de-pin the graphene from a substrate when it is grown over nanosized obstacles. Using high-temperature scanning tunneling microcopy, K. P. Loh and co-workers have made the unique discovery that C60 molecules absorbed on a Ru metal surface can at once act as growth precursors to graphene and suspension struts for the growing quasi-freestanding graphene on C60 molecules. The electronic structure of the C60-lifted graphene is distinct from that of the graphene attached to the metal substrate.