Graphene layer on Rh(111): combined DFT, STM, and NC-AFM studies

TL;DR

This study combines advanced experimental scanning probe techniques with DFT calculations to analyze the structure and electronic properties of a graphene layer on Rh(111), providing detailed atomic and electronic insights.

Contribution

It integrates STM, AFM, and DFT methods to comprehensively characterize the graphene/Rh(111) system, offering new atomic-scale understanding.

Findings

Good agreement between experimental images and DFT simulations

Detailed atomic resolution of graphene on Rh(111)

Insights into electronic structure and surface corrugation

Abstract

The simultaneous combination of scanning probe methods (tunnelling and force microscopies, STM and AFM) is a unique way to get an information about crystallographic and electronic structure of the studied surface. Here we apply these methods accompanied by the state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) calculations to shed a light on the structure and electronic properties of the strongly-corrugated graphene/Rh(111) system. The atomically resolved images are obtained for both STM and AFM modes and compared with the DFT results showing good agreement between theory and experiment.