title: Nanoscale control of phonon excitations in graphene.
abstract: Phonons, which are collective excitations in a lattice of atoms or molecules, play a major role in determining various physical properties of condensed matter, such as thermal and electrical conductivities. In particular, phonons in graphene interact strongly with electrons; however, unlike in usual metals, these interactions between phonons and massless Dirac fermions appear to mirror the rather complicated physics of those between light and relativistic electrons. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of the underlying physics through systematic studies of phonon interactions and excitations in graphene is crucial for realising graphene-based devices. In this study, we demonstrate that the local phonon properties of graphene can be controlled at the nanoscale by tuning the interaction strength between graphene and an underlying Pt substrate. Using scanning probe methods, we determine that the reduced interaction due to embedded Ar atoms facilitates electron-phonon excitations, further influencing phonon-assisted inelastic electron tunnelling.
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Wonhee
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: JiYeon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ku
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Insu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Donggyu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeokshin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngtek
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Seunghwa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea.
authors.forename: Young
authors.identifier: 0000000152418896
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuk
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Device Lab., Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 443-803, Korea.
authors.forename: Hwansoo
authors.identifier: 000000033670407X
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suh