Immobilizing individual atoms beneath a corrugated single layer of boron nitride

Abstract

Single atoms, and in particular the least reactive noble gases, are difficult to immobilize at room temperature. Ion implantation into a crystal lattice has this capability, but the randomness of the involved processes does not permit much control over their distribution within the solid. Here we demonstrate that the boron nitride nanomesh, a corrugated single layer of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) with a 3.2 nm honeycomb superstructure formed on a Rh(111) surface, can trap individual argon atoms at distinct subsurface sites at room Show more