Stacking-Dependent Electronic Structure of Trilayer Graphene Resolved by Nanospot Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

Abstract

The crystallographic stacking order in multilayer graphene plays an important role in determining its electronic structure. In trilayer graphene, rhombohedral stacking (ABC) is particularly intriguing, exhibiting a flat band with an electric-field tunable band gap. Such electronic structure is distinct from simple hexagonal stacking (AAA) or typical Bernal stacking (ABA), and is promising for nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics applications. So far clean experimental electronic spectra on the first two stackings are missing because the samples are usually too small in size (µm or nm scale) to be † The authors declare no competing financial interest. 1 arXiv:1702.08307v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Coulomb Excitations and Decays in Graphene-Related Systems

“…On the other hand, monolayer tine exhibit the very strong multi-orbital hybridizations and SOCs, [135] so that the outside four orbitals (5s, 5p x , 5p y , 5p z ) need to be considered in the low-energy band structures. The calculated electronic energy spectra could be verified from the ARPES measurements, [56,57,[65][66][67][68][111][112][113][114] as done for few-layer graphenes and graphites.…”

“…The experimental measurements have confirmed the geometry-enriched band structures in the graphene-related condensed-matter systems, as verified for various dimensions, layer numbers, stacking symmetries, and adatom/molecule chemisorptions. There exist (k x , k y , k z )-dependent 3D band structures of Bernal graphite, [111][112][113][114] 1D parabolic energy subbands in graphene nanoribbons, [157,158] the linearly isotropic Dirac-cone structure in monolayer graphene, [45,159] and few-layer AA-stacked graphene, [56,57] two pairs of parabolic dispersions in AB-stacked bilayer graphene, [65][66][67][68] the coexistent linear and parabolic bands in symmetry-broken bilayer graphene, [160] the linear and parabolic bands in trilayer graphene with ABA stacking, [66][67][68] the linear, partially flat and sombrero-shaped bands in ABC-stacked trilayer graphene, [66][67][68] the metal-semiconductor transitions and the tunable low-lying energy bands after the molecule/adatom absorptions on graphene surface. [161] On the other side, the predicted Coulomb decay rates could be examined from the high-resolution ARPES measurements on the energy widths, as clearly revealed in potassium chemiadsorption on monolayer graphene.…”

“…The rich and unique Coulomb decay rates appear as a consequence of the oscillatory energy dependence, the strong anisotropy on wave vectors, the non-equivalent valence and conduction states/Dirac points, and the similarity with 2D electron gas for the low-energy conduction electrons and holes. The predicted Coulomb decay rates could be directly examined from the high-resolution ARPES measurements by the energy widths of quasiparticle states at low temperature [56,57,[112][113][114]. This book is focused on the recent progresses of graphene-related systems in Coulomb excitations/deexcitations under the electron-electron interactions.…”

van der Waals metamaterials

“…(b) The Dirac cone structure of trilayer graphene displays qualitatively different behavior in each of its three different stacking configurations, adapted with permission from Ref. [30]. Copyright 2017, American Chemical Society.…”

Selective fabrication of free-standing ABA and ABC trilayer graphene with/without Dirac-cone energy bands

“…In fact, previous angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) studies on epitaxially grown TL graphene have suggested the mixture of ABA and ABC domains in a film. [18][19][20] In addition, TL graphene grown on an SiC substrate exhibits a metallic character because of charge transfer from the substrate through a buffer layer with a graphene-like structure. 15 Therefore, graphitization of the buffer layer and the reduction of interference from the substrate are essential to revealing the intrinsic electronic properties of genuine TL graphene.…”