Tuning nucleation density of metal island with charge doping of graphene substrate

We have demonstrated that the island nucleation in the initial stage of epitaxial thin film growth can be tuned by substrate surface charge doping. This charge effect was investigated using spin density functional theory calculation in Fe-deposition on graphene substrate as an example. It was found that hole-doping can noticeably increase both Fe-adatom diffusion barrier and Fe inter-adatom repulsion energy occurring at intermediate separation, whereas electron-doping can decrease Fe-adatom diffusion barrier but only slightly modify inter-adatom repulsion energy. Further kinetic Monte Carlo simulation showed that the nucleation island number density can be increased up to six times larger under hole-doping and can be decreased down to ten times smaller under electron doping than that without doping. Our findings indicate a route to tailor the growth morphology of magnetic metal nanostructure for spintronics and plasmonic applications via surface charge doping.