We report that the behavior of a low-energy π plasmon excitation in a single layer graphene (SLG) can be modified by doping external potassium (K) atoms, a feature demanded to realize the graphene plasmonics. Using high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy, we find that upon K-doping the π plasmon energy increases by 1.1 eV due to the K-induced electron density up to n = 7 × 1013 cm−2 in SLG. The four modified dispersions for different K-dopings, however, are found to merge into a single universal curve when plotted in the dimensionless coordinates indicating that the unique plasmonic character of SLG is preserved despite the K-dopings.

The kinetics of growth of GaN/(0001) sapphire heteroepitaxial films have been examined in the relatively low substrate temperature range, 560–640 °C, using the reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) specular reflection intensity monitoring technique. In particular, an alternate element exposure method of growth was employed in which Ga and N atoms were supplied separately (rather than simultaneously, as in conventional molecular beam epitaxy) to the substrate with the inclusion of a time delay between successive Ga flux and N flux exposures. We interpret the observed time dependent recovery of the RHEED specular reflection intensity during the time delay phases to be associated with Ga–N surface molecule migration on Ga-terminated surfaces and the activation energy for this migration process was determined to be 1.45±0.25 eV.