Electronic properties of bilayer graphenes strongly coupled to interlayer stacking and an external electric field

Abstract

Bilayer graphene (BLG) with a tunable bandgap appears interesting as an alternative to graphene for practical applications, thus its transport properties are being actively pursued. Using density functional theory and perturbation analysis, we investigated, under an external electric field, the electronic properties of BLGs in various stackings relevant to recently observed complex structures. We established the first phase diagram summarizing the stacking-dependent gap openings of BLGs for a given field. We further identified high-density midgap states, localized on grain boundaries, even under a strong field, which can considerably reduce overall transport gap.