Large areas of (√3 x √3)R30° graphene commensurate with a Pt(111) substrate were studied. A combination of experimental techniques with ab initio density functional theory indicated that this structure was related to a reconstruction at the Pt surface, consisting of an ordered vacancy network formed in the outermost Pt layer and a graphene layer covalently bound to the Pt substrate. The formation of this reconstruction was enhanced if low temperatures and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were used as molecular precursors for epitaxial growth of the graphene layers.

Ordered Vacancy Network Induced by the Growth of Epitaxial Graphene on Pt(111). G.Otero, C.González, A.L.Pinardi, P.Merino, S.Gardonio, S.Lizzit, M.Blanco-Rey, K.Van de Ruit, C.F.J.Flipse, J.Méndez, P.L.de Andrés, J.A.Martín-Gago: Physical Review Letters, 2010, 105[21], 216102