Imaging the Interface of Epitaxial Graphene With Silicon Carbide Via Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

G. M. Rutter, N. P. Guisinger, J. N. Crain, E. A. Jarvis, M. D. Stiles, T. Li, P. N.First, and J. A. Stroscio

Physical Review B 76(23), 235416 (2007)

Abstract:

Graphene grown epitaxially on SiC has been proposed as a material for carbon-based electronics. Understanding the interface between graphene and the SiC substrate will be important for future applications. We report the ability to image the interface structure beneath single-layer graphene using scanning tunneling microscopy. Such imaging is possible because the graphene appears transparent at energies of ±1 eV above or below the Fermi energy (E_F). Our analysis of calculations based on density-functional theory shows how this transparency arises from the electronic structure of a graphene layer on a SiC substrate.

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