Recognizing nitrogen dopant atoms in graphene using atomic force microscopy

Doping graphene by heteroatoms such as nitrogen presents an attractive route to control the position of the Fermi level in the material. We prepared N-doped graphene on Cu(111) and Ir(111) surfaces via chemical vapor deposition of two different molecules. Using scanning tunneling microscopy images as a benchmark, we show that the position of the dopant atoms can be determined using atomic force microscopy. Specifically, the frequency shift-distance curves Δf(z) acquired above a N atom are significantly different from the curves measured over a C atom. Similar behavior was found for N-doped graphene on Cu(111) and Ir(111). The results are corroborated by density functional theory calculations employing a van der Waals functional.