Using low-energy electron microscopy, we study Co intercalation under graphene grown on Ir(111). Depending on the rotational domain of graphene on which it is deposited, Co is found intercalated at different locations. While intercalated Co is observed preferentially at the substrate step edges below certain rotational domains, it is mostly found close to wrinkles below other domains. These results indicate that curved regions (near substrate atomic steps and wrinkles) of the graphene sheet facilitate Co intercalation and suggest that the strength of the graphene/Ir interaction determines which pathway is energetically more favorable.In view of potential technological appications, the ability to modify and control the properties of a graphene layer has been a central issue since its discovery [1]. The intercalation of foreign atoms or molecules between a graphene sheet and its substrate often affects the electronic and magnetic properties of the considered interface. For example, the intercalation of noble metals [2,3] or hydrogen atoms [4] can be used to reduce the interaction between graphene and its substrate, and even restore the electronic properties of free-standing graphene, while the intercalation of alkali metals is an efficient mean to control the doping level of graphene [5]. Intercalation of a ferromagnetic transition metal can also enhance the net magnetic moment induced in carbon atoms when graphene is in contact with a magnetic surface [6], and is a promising route to fabricate graphene/ferromagnetic metal hybrid structures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy [7,8].Understanding where and how a foreign species intercalates below graphene is a challenging task, and different scenarios have been proposed. While oxygen intercalates at the free edges of graphene grown on Ru(0001) [9, 10] and on Ir(111) [11], alkali metals instead may intercalate at the substrate step edges or at boundaries between different rotational domains in graphene/Ni(111) [5] and in graphite [12]. Regarding transition metals, the intercalation mechanism remains elusive. While it has been demonstrated that pre-existing defects in graphene, such as vacancies or pentagon-heptagon pairs, reduce the required energy to trigger intercalation [13,14], several recent experimental works have shown that other mechanisms could be at work. In particular, the formation of atomic defects, not pre-existing in the graphene layer but induced by the contact with a transition metal cluster, with subsequent restoring of the carbon-carbon bonds, has been suggested as a possible way for metal intercalation [14][15][16]. In this work, low-energy electron microscopy [17,18] (LEEM) is used to study cobalt intercalation at moderate annealing temperature (about 125 • C) underneath graphene grown on an iridium (111) surface. Depending on the rotational orientation of the graphene domain, we find Co intercalated at differ-