Interface structure of graphene on SiC: an ab initio and STM approach

Jean-Yves Veuillen (1) , Fanny Hiebel , Laurence Magaud (2) , Pierre Mallet (1) , François Varchon (3)

1 NEEL - QuNES - Nano-Electronique Quantique et Spectroscopie
2 NEEL - Quan2m - Interactions modulables dans des états quantiques 2D
3 European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility

High temperature treatment of SiC surfaces is a well established technique for producing graphene directly on top of an insulating substrate. In this domain an important question is the influence of the substrate on the atomic and electronic structure of the graphene layers. This requires a detailed investigation of the interactions at the graphene-SiC interface. Surface science techniques and ab initio calculations are well suited for that purpose. In this article, we present a brief review of the recent investigations performed in this domain by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and ab initio simulations. It is largely based on the work performed in our group, but it also provides a survey of the literature in these fields. Both the so-called Si and C face of the hexagonal 6H(4H)SiC{0001} substrates will be considered, as they show markedly different behaviour.

Domaines: Physique Générale [physics.gen-ph]

Jean-Yves Veuillen, Fanny Hiebel, Laurence Magaud, Pierre Mallet, François Varchon. Interface structure of graphene on SiC: an ab initio and STM approach. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2010, 43 (37), pp.374008. ⟨10.1088/0022-3727/43/37/374008⟩. ⟨hal-00569698⟩