Giant Surface Charge Density of Graphene Resolved From Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and First-Principles Theory

Abstract

In this work, systematic constant-bias, variable-current scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements and STM simulations from density-functional theory are made, yielding critical insights into the spatial structure of electrons in graphene. A foundational comparison is drawn between graphene and graphite, showing the surface charge density of graphene to be 300 percent that of graphite. Furthermore, simulated STM images reveal that high-current STM better resolves graphenes honeycomb bonding structure because of a retraction which occurs in the topmost dangling bond orbitals.