| Author(s): |
Rutter, G. M.; Guisinger, N.; Crain, J.; Jarvis, E.; Stiles, M. D.; Li, T.; First, P.; Stroscio, J. A.; |
| Title: |
Imaging the interface of epitaxial graphene with silicon carbide via scanning tunneling microscopy |
| Published: |
December 14, 2007 |
| Abstract: |
The potential for electronics based on graphene, a single layer of sp2-bonded carbon atoms, rests on the ability to fabricate graphene into useful devices. Graphene grown epitaxially on SiC substrates offers an avenue for carbon-based electronics allowing for large area fabrication of carbon structures, patterning with standard lithographic procedures, and potential integration with current Si technology 1,2. A major obstacle to this approach is a lack of understanding of the role that the SiC interface plays in determining the electronic properties and charge transport in the graphene/SiC system. In this letter, we image the interface structure beneath the first graphene layer on the SiC substrate using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at a series of bias voltages. Such imaging is possible because the first layer of graphene becomes semi-transparent at energies of 1 eV above or below the Fermi-energy, yielding images of the SiC interface. Our analysis of calculations based on density functional theory shows how this transparency arises from the electronic structure of a graphene layer on the SiC substrate. |
| Citation: |
Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics) |
| Volume: |
76 |
| Issue: |
23 |
| Keywords: |
MICROSCOPY |
| Research Areas: |
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) |
| PDF version: |
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