Abstract
We use scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize and thermal desorption spectroscopy to quantitatively measure that the binding of naphthalene molecules to graphene, a case of pure van der Waals interaction, strengthens with and weakens with doping of graphene. Density-functional theory calculations that include the van der Waals interaction in a seamless, ab initio way accurately reproduce the observed trend in binding energies. Based on a model calculation, we propose that the van der Waals interaction is modified by changing the spatial extent of graphene’s orbitals via doping.
- Received 7 September 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.236101
© 2015 American Physical Society
Synopsis
A van der Waals Tuning Knob
Published 1 December 2015
By adding dopant atoms to a graphene sheet, researchers are able to control the van der Waals attraction that the surface exerts on molecules.
See more in Physics