10.1021/jp406415h.s001 R. Cortés R. Cortés D. P. Acharya D. P. Acharya C. V. Ciobanu C. V. Ciobanu E. Sutter E. Sutter P. Sutter P. Sutter Graphene on Ru(0001) Moiré Corrugation Studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy on Au/Graphene/Ru(0001) Heterostructures American Chemical Society 2016 corrugation Scanning Tunneling Microscopy graphene theory calculations STM elasticity theory equations gold film scanning tunneling microscopy monolayer 2016-02-18 16:32:03 Journal contribution https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Graphene_on_Ru_0001_Moire_Corrugation_Studied_by_Scanning_Tunneling_Microscopy_on_Au_Graphene_Ru_0001_Heterostructures/2367400 Two-dimensional Au islands of different thicknesses grown on graphene/Ru(0001) were used to study the corrugation of the moiré structure of graphene/Ru(0001) and discriminate between its mainly structural or electronic character. A comparison of the apparent corrugation measured by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) for different Au thicknesses with results of elasticity theory equations applied to a gold film over a corrugated substrate shows that the corrugation observed for the graphene/Ru(0001) moiré is of structural nature rather than electronic. STM showed a large value for the corrugation of the first Au monolayer on graphene/Ru(0001), 1.7 Å; using density functional theory calculations, we explain this large corrugation of the Au monolayer as the result of a strong (weak) binding of the Au layer at the valley (hill) regions of the graphene/Ru(0001) moiré structure and infer an actual corrugation of the graphene/Ru(0001) moiré structure of ∼1.2 Å from the measured corrugation of the Au monolayer.