On the fermi velocity and static conductivity of epitaxial graphene

Abstract

The models of the energy density of states of a metallic or semiconductor substrate, which does not further lead to divergences, have been proposed to calculate the characteristics of epitaxial graphene. The Fermi velocity of epitaxial graphene formed on a metal has been shown to be greater than that in free-standing graphene irrespective of the position of the Fermi level. On the contrary, the Fermi velocity of graphene formed on a semiconductor is lower so that the lower is the Fermi velocity, the closer is the Fermi level to the center of the band gap of the semiconductor. The zero-temperature static conductivity σ of epitaxial graphene has been calculated according to the Kubo-Greenwood formula. The quantity σ_m of undoped graphene on metal has been shown to decrease with an increase in the deviation of the Dirac point ɛ_D (which coincides with the Fermi level of the system) from the center of the conduction band of the substrate. In the case of the semiconductor substrate, the static conductivity σ_sc turns out to be nonzero and amounts to σ_sc = 2e ²/πħ-only under the condition ɛ_F =ɛ′_D, where ɛ′_D is the Dirac-point energy renormalized by the interaction with the substrate.