A route to strong p-doping of epitaxial graphene on SiC

The effects of Au intercalation on the electronic properties of epitaxial graphene grown on SiC{0001} substrates are studied using first principles calculations. A graphene monolayer on SiC{0001} restores the shape of the pristine graphene dispersion, where doping levels between strongly n-doped and weakly p-doped can be achieved by altering the Au coverage. We predict that Au intercalation between the two C layers of bilayer graphene grown on SiC{0001} makes it possible to achieve a strongly p-doped graphene state, where the p-doping level can be controlled by means of the Au coverage. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3515848]