Abstract:
Gas cluster ion beams are proposed as a new tool for producing nanometer sized holes in
ultrathin 2D films. Surfaces of films of graphene, graphene oxide, MoS2, and HOPG, and also
silicon as a reference, were irradiated by Ar gas cluster ion beams (Exogenesis Corporation,
Billerica, MA USA). The results were analyzed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and
Raman spectroscopy. Ar gas cluster ion acceleration energy was 30 keV and total ion fluences
ranged from 1108 to 11013 cm-2. Uniformly distributed holes, typically in the range of 10 to 25
nanometers in diameter, produced by the cluster ions, were observed on the surface of graphene
oxide. To the best of our knowledge, this is first experimental observation of such holes