▎ 摘　　要

We report on the intercalation of graphene grown on a Ni(111) crystal with argon. Argon is implanted in the Ni(111) crystal by ion bombardment before graphene growth, and diffuses to the surface during the growth of graphene at elevated temperatures. Graphene acts as an atomically thin barrier and keeps the argon underneath. We investigated this system with high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. From our experiments we determined the mean quantities of argon under graphene. From our analysis, a simple model to determine the pressure under the graphene layer is presented. In our measurements, we find an increased thermal stability of the intercalated graphene as compared to non-intercalated graphene on Ni(111). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.