MAKING A MONOLAYER HOLE IN A GRAPHITE SURFACE BY MEANS OF A SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE

It is reported that small pits are made in a graphite surface by applying voltage pulses using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). A shallow hole, whose diameter was about 10 nm, was formed by creating the pits along the circumference of a circle. The depth of the hole was about 0.35 nm, which is very close to the interlayer distance of graphite. The result indicates the possibility of cutting a piece of layered material by monolayer thickness using an STM. The chemical process of pit formation is discussed. © 1990 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.