Hydrogen interaction with graphene on Ir(1 1 1): a combined intercalation and functionalization study

We demonstrate a procedure for obtaining a H-intercalated graphene layer that is found to be chemically decoupled from the underlying metal substrate. Using high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy techniques, we reveal that the hydrogen intercalated graphene is p-doped by about 0.28 eV, but also identify structures of interfacial hydrogen. Furthermore, we investigate the reactivity of the decoupled layer towards atomic hydrogen and vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen and compare these results to the case of non-intercalated graphene. We find distinct differences between the two. Finally, we discuss the possibility to form graphane clusters on an iridium substrate by combined intercalation and H atom exposure experiments.