Theoretical Study of Epitaxial Graphene Growth on SiC(0001) Surfaces

The epitaxial graphene growth mechanism on SiC(0001) surfaces is studied based on the energetics via the first-principles calculation. It is found that a Si terminated surface is important for the epitaxial growth of thin flat graphene sheets. This surface encourages the growth of graphene sheets because the surface Si atoms act as catalyst. Si desorbed sites trap excess C atoms, and form graphene islands. It is also found that the new graphene sheet prefers to grow just on the Si terminated surface of the SiC substrate even if the surface is covered with other graphene sheets.