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Updated: May 12, 2026

Fabrication of Three-Dimensional Graphene-Based Polyhedrons via Origami-Like Self-Folding
Published on: September 23, 2018
Adatoms and clusters of 3d transition metals on graphene: electronic and magnetic configurations
T Eelbo1, M Waśniowska, P Thakur
1Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 11, D-20355 Hamburg, Germany. teelbo@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
Abstract:
We investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of single Fe, Co, and Ni atoms and clusters on monolayer graphene (MLG) on SiC(0001) by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), and ab initio calculations. STM reveals different adsorption sites for Ni and Co adatoms. XMCD proves Fe and Co adatoms to be paramagnetic and to exhibit an out-of-plane easy axis in agreement with theory. In contrast, we experimentally find a nonmagnetic ground state for Ni monomers while an increasing cluster size leads to sizeable magnetic moments. These observations are well reproduced by our calculations and reveal the importance of hybridization effects and intra-atomic charge transfer for the properties of adatoms and clusters on MLG.
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