Tunable band gap in gold intercalated graphene

Abstract

Quasi free-standing graphene with Dirac fermion behavior has been recently demonstrated through gold intercalated epitaxial graphene. Herein, we investigate the electronic characteristics of gold-intercepted epitaxial graphene under a perpendicularly applied electric field. Evolution of the band structure of intercalated epitaxial graphene as a function of the bias is investigated by means of density-functional theory including interlayer van der Waals interactions. Our results indicate that gold-intercalated epitaxial graphene can lead to tuneable band gap with the applied bias, which is important for future device applications.