Monolayer and Bilayer Graphene on Ru(0001): Layer-Specific and Moiré-Site-Dependent Phonon Excitations

Graphene phonons are excited by the local injection of electrons and holes from the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. Despite the strong graphene–Ru(0001) hybridization, monolayer graphene unexpectedly exhibits pronounced phonon signatures in inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy. Spatially resolved spectroscopy reveals that the strength of the phonon signal depends on the site of the moiré lattice with a substantial red-shift of phonon energies compared to those of free graphene. Bilayer graphene gives rise to more pronounced spectral signatures of vibrational quanta with energies nearly matching the free graphene phonon energies. Spectroscopy data of bilayer graphene indicate moreover the presence of a Dirac cone plasmon excitation.