Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 87: Graphene: Electronic Structure

O 87.2: Talk

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 15:15–15:30, MA 041

Using collective electrostatic effects to tune the electronic structure of graphene — •Gernot J. Kraberger¹, David A. Egger^1,2, and Egbert Zojer¹ — ¹Institute of Solid State Physics, NAWI Graz, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 16, 8010 Graz, Austria — ²Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth 76100, Israel

Graphene has unique structural and electronic properties, which have attracted huge research interest since its isolation. As a prerequisite of using this material in devices, it is necessary to modify its properties in a controlled way that it fits the needs of the application. This work uses density functional theory calculations to investigate a new approach to change the electronic structure of graphene: using the collective field of a highly ordered arrangement of dipoles to shift the potential in specific regions of graphene (i.e., exploiting so-called collective electrostatic effects). First we discuss a "proof-of-concept" model system: Along a line in graphene, pairs of neighboring carbon atoms are replaced by a boron and a nitrogen atom. Each of the resulting BN-pairs exhibits a dipole moment, which means that a one-dimensional chain of dipoles is formed. This chain impacts the electrostatic potential in its surroundings such that the electronic states in graphene are locally shifted relative to the Fermi level. With two oppositely oriented lines of dipoles it is then even possible to localize states in well-defined stripes. Finally, we explore to what extent similar effects can be generated by assembling rows of quadrupolar molecules on top of the graphene sheet instead of modifying the graphene layer itself.