Atomic and electronic structure of few-layer graphene on SiC(0001) studied with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy

P. Lauffer, K. V. Emtsev, R. Graupner, Th. Seyller, L. Ley, S. A. Reshanov, and H. B. Weber

Phys. Rev. B 77, 155426 – Published 18 April 2008

Abstract

Epitaxial growth of graphene on SiC surfaces by solid state graphitization is a promising route for future development of graphene based electronics. In the present work, we have studied the morphology, atomic scale structure, and electronic structure of thin films of few-layer graphene (FLG) on SiC(0001) by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STS). We show that a quantitative evaluation of the roughness induced by the interface is a tool for determining the layer thickness of FLG. We present and interpret thickness dependent tunneling spectra, which can serve as an additional fingerprint for the determination of the layer thickness. By performing spatially resolved STS, we find evidence that the charge distribution in bilayer graphene is inhomogeneous.