Homogeneous Spatial Distribution of Deuterium Chemisorbed on Free-Standing Graphene

Atomic deuterium (D) adsorption on free-standing nanoporous graphene obtained by ultra-high vacuum D [Formula: see text] molecular cracking reveals a homogeneous distribution all over the nanoporous graphene sample, as deduced by ultra-high vacuum Raman spectroscopy combined with core-level photoemission spectroscopy. Raman microscopy unveils the presence of bonding distortion, from the signal associated to the planar sp [Formula: see text] configuration of graphene toward the sp [Formula: see text] tetrahedral structure of graphane. The establishment of D–C sp [Formula: see text] hybrid bonds is also clearly determined by high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and spatially correlated to the Auger spectroscopy signal. This work shows that the low-energy molecular cracking of D [Formula: see text] in an ultra-high vacuum is an efficient strategy for obtaining high-quality semiconducting graphane with homogeneous uptake of deuterium atoms, as confirmed by this combined optical and electronic spectro-microscopy study wholly carried out in ultra-high vacuum conditions.