Paul-Antoine Hervieux

Paul-Antoine Hervieux

Affiliation:University of Strasbourg

Title: A Hybrid Computational Model for Simulating Single-Atom Spin Resonance Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Abstract:A New Spectroscopy of Atom–Surface Interactions

Abstract:In [1] we used a beam of very fast hydrogen atoms to study how they pass through a single layer of graphene, a sheet of carbon just one atom thick. When the atoms went through the graphene, they created clear diffraction patterns, much like how light passes through a fine grid to form bright and dark spots. These patterns revealed details about the structure and purity of the graphene and about how atoms interact with its surface. To understand these results, we compared our data with theoretical models describing how hydrogen atoms and graphene influence each other. Only the most detailed quantum-level calculations (based on Density Functional Theory) matched what we observed, showing that this technique is extremely sensitive to tiny variations in atom-surface interactions. This study is important because it demonstrates a new way to probe and characterize materials using neutral atoms rather than charged particles like electrons. Such neutral atomic beams avoid disturbing too much the material and could be used in the future to explore delicate, insulating, two-dimensional materials such as boron nitride, paving the way for new types of atomic-scale measurements and spectroscopic tools.

[1] Fast Hydrogen Atom Diffraction through Monocrystalline Graphene, Pierre Guichard, Arnaud Dochain, Raphaël Marion, Pauline de Crombrugghe de Picquendaele, Nicolas Lejeune, Benoît Hackens, Paul-Antoine Hervieux, Xavier Urbain, Physical Review Letters 135, 263403 (2025). Highlighted by the editors as an Editors’ Suggestion.