Interface engineering of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001¯) via fluorine intercalation: A first principles study

Our first-principles calculations show that a change of carrier type from electron to hole can be achieved in monolayer epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001¯) by fluorine (F) intercalation. The p-doping level in graphene, however, is not monotonously enhanced as the F coverage increases, and an interesting interface magnetism is observed at the partially passivated interface. Because intercalated F atoms prefer to bond to the substrate than to the graphene, F-intercalation provides a promising way of “interface modulation doping” to tailor the electronic properties of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001¯) without appreciably degrading its intrinsic high mobility.