arXiv subjects

Alfonso San-Miguel

Publications and source records attributed to Alfonso San-Miguel.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Strain and doping transfer between suspended and supported bilayer graphene

Due to their unique dimensionality, the physical properties of two-dimensional materials are deeply impacted by their surroundings, calling for a thorough understanding and control of these effects. We investigated the influence of the substrate and the pressure transmitting medium on bilayer graphene in a unique high-pressure environment where the sample is partially suspended and partially supported. By employing Raman spectroscopy with a sub-micron spatial resolution, we explored the evolution of strain and doping, and demonstrated that they are both similarly induced in the suspended and supported regions of the bilayer graphene within the studied pressure range. Almost full strain and doping transfer between the supported and suspended regions is concluded. We observed that charge carrier density saturates quickly at low pressures (2 GPa) while biaxial strain continuously increases with pressure. Additionally, Raman spatial mapping highlights a rather uniform doping and strain distribution, yet with significant local variations revealing a more complex scenario than previously documented by single-point studies at high pressure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Biaxial strain effects in 2D diamond formation from graphene stacks

Discovering innovative methods to understand phase transitions, modify phase diagrams, and uncover novel synthesis routes poses significant and far-reaching challenges. In this study, we demonstrate the formation of nanodiamond-like sp3 carbon from few-layer graphene (FLG) stacks at room temperature and relatively low transition pressure (~7.0 GPa) due to chemical interaction with water and physical biaxial strain induced by substrate compression. By employing resonance Raman and optical absorption spectroscopies at high-pressure on FLG systems, utilizing van der Waals heterostructures (hBN/FLG) on different substrates (SiO2/Si and diamond), we originally unveiled the key role of biaxial strain. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations corroborates the pivotal role of both water and biaxial strain in locally stabilizing sp3 carbon structures at the graphene-ice interface. This breakthrough directly enhances nanodiamond technology but also establishes biaxial strain engineering as a promising tool to explore novel phases of 2D nanomaterials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Iodine molecule modifications with high pressure

Metallization and dissociation are key transformations in diatomic molecules at high densities particularly significant for modeling giant planets. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and atomistic modeling, we demonstrate that in halogens, the formation of a \textit{connected} molecular structure takes place at pressures well below metallization. Here we show that the iodine diatomic molecule first elongates of $\sim$0.007 Å~up to a critical pressure of $P_c$ $\backsim$7~GPa developing bonds between molecules. Then its length continuously decreases with pressure up to 15-20~GPa. Universal trends in halogens are shown and allow to predict for chlorine a pressure of 42$\pm$8~GPa for molecular bond-length reversal. Our findings tackle the molecule invariability paradigm in diatomic molecular phases at high pressures and may be generalized to other abundant diatomic molecules in the universe, including hydrogen.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2012

Structural and phonon properties of bundled single- and double-wall carbon nanotubes under pressure

In this work, we report a theoretical coupled study of the structural and phonons properties of bundled single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs), under hydrostatic compression. Our results confirm drastic changes in volume of SWNTs in high-pressure regime as assigned by a phase transition from circular to collapsed phase which are strictly dependent on the tube diameter. For the DWNTs, those results show first a transformation to a polygonized shape of the outer tube and subsequently the simultaneous collapse of the outter and inner tube, at the onset of the inner tube ovalization. Before the DWNT collapse, phonon calculations reproduce the experimentally observed screening effect on the inner tube pressure induced blue shift both for RBM and tangential G$_z$ modes . Furthermore, the collapse of CNTs bundles induces a sudden redshift of tangential component in agreement with experimental studies. The G$_z$ band analysis of the SWNT collapsed tubes shows that the flattened regions of the tubes are at the origin of their G-band signal. This explains the observed graphite type pressure evolution of the G band in the collapsed phase and provides in addition a mean for the identification of collapsed tubes

cond-mat.mes-hall↗