Structure and dynamics investigations of a partially hydrogenated graphene/Ni(111) surface

TL;DR

This study uses helium-3 atom scattering to analyze the structure, adsorption, and diffusion dynamics of atomic hydrogen on a graphene/Ni(111) surface, revealing a rotated hydrogen overstructure and quantifying activation barriers.

Contribution

It provides new insights into hydrogen adsorption and diffusion on graphene/Ni(111), including structural details and kinetic barriers, using helium-3 scattering techniques.

Findings

Identified a 4° rotated hydrogen overstructure.

Measured activation barriers for adsorption and desorption.

Set lower limits for hydrogen surface diffusion rate.

Abstract

Using helium-3 atom scattering, we have studied the adsorption kinetics, the structure and the diffusional dynamics of atomic hydrogen on the surface of a graphene monolayer on Ni(111). Diffraction measurements reveal a 4$^\circ$ rotated rectangular hydrogen overstructure. Hydrogen adsorption and desorption exhibit activation barriers of $E_a=(89\pm7)\,$meV and $E_d=(1.8\pm0.2)\,$eV, respectively. Helium-3 spin-echo measurements showed no decay of the spatial correlation function (or intermediate scattering function) within the time range of the spectrometer. Hence, we are able to set lower limits for a possible hydrogen surface diffusion rate.