Effect of iron intercalation on graphene/SiC electronic structure

Abstract

Abstract Graphene-based materials are of great interest for spintronics devices. In the present paper, the effect of intercalated iron on the electronic structure of the graphene/4H-SiC(0001) system has been studied in the frame of density functional theory. It is shown that the most energetically favorable position of intercalated Fe atoms corresponds to their location between the buffer layer and the top Si layer of the substrate. Insertion of Fe atoms into the system leads to the spin polarization of the electronic states of carbon. Another effect is that the buffer layer becomes flat and bilayer graphene forms in the system.