Low-Energy Electron Reflectivity of Graphene on Copper and other Substrates

Abstract

The reflectivity of low energy electrons from graphene on copper substrates is studied both experimentally and theoretically. Well-known oscillations in the reflectivity of electrons with energies 0 - 8 eV above the vacuum level are observed in the experiment. These oscillations are reproduced in theory, based on a first-principles density functional description of interlayer states forming for various thicknesses of multilayer graphene. It is demonstrated that n layers of graphene produce a regular series of n-1 minima in the reflectance spectra, together with a possible additional minimum associated with an interlayer state forming between the graphene and the substrate. Both (111) and (001) orientations of the copper substrates are studied. Similarities in their reflectivity spectra arise from the interlayer states, whereas differences are found because of the different Cu band structures along those orientations. Results for graphene on other substrates, including Pt(111) and Ir(111), are also discussed.

22 pages, 10 figures in main manuscript; 12 pages, 5 figures in supplemental material; v2, added figs 1 and 8 in main manuscript and S6 in supplemental material, and made minor changes in text; v3, incorporated supplemental material into an Appendix

References in corpus (6)

• Microscopic thickness determination of thin graphite films formed on SiC from quantized oscillation in reflectivity of low-energy electrons
• Morphology of graphene thin film growth on SiC(0001)
• Low-energy Electron Reflectivity from Graphene
• The interface structure of epitaxial graphene grown on 4H-SiC(0001)
• Topographic and electronic contrast of the graphene moiré on Ir(111) probed by scanning tunneling microscopy and non-contact atomic force microscopy
• Argon Assisted Growth of Epitaxial Graphene on Cu(111)

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Characterization of hexagonal boron nitride layers on nickel surfaces by low-energy electron microscopy
• Modification of electronic surface states by graphene islands on Cu(111)
• Formation of hexagonal Boron Nitride on Graphene-covered Copper Surfaces
• Step-edge assisted large scale FeSe monolayer growth on epitaxial Bi2Se3 thin films
• Thickness characterization of atomically-thin WSe${}_2$ on epitaxial graphene by low-energy electron reflectivity oscillations
• Inelastic Effects in Low-Energy Electron Reflectivity of Two-dimensional Materials
• Substitutional mechanism for growth of hexagonal boron nitride on epitaxial graphene
• Formation of a Buffer Layer for Graphene on C-face SiC{0001}
• Rubidium intercalation in epitaxial monolayer graphene
• Mass-transport-limited reaction rates and molecular diffusion in the van der Waals gap beneath graphene