First principles study of electronic transport through a Cu(111)|graphene junction

TL;DR

This study uses first principles calculations to analyze the electronic transport properties of a Cu(111)|graphene junction, revealing how the copper electrode influences charge transfer, doping, and conductance features.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the nonequilibrium transport behavior of Cu-graphene interfaces using first principles methods.

Findings

Cu induces a transmission minimum at -0.68 eV below Fermi level

Doping shifts the Dirac point and transmission features under bias

Distinctive conductance peaks relate to doping levels

Abstract

We report first principles investigations of the nonequilibrium transport properties of a Cu(111)|graphene interface. The Cu(111) electrode is found to induce a transmission minimum (TM) located -0.68eV below the Fermi level, a feature originating from the Cu-induced charge transfer resulting in n-type doped graphene with the Dirac point coinciding with the TM. An applied bias voltage shifts the n-graphene TM relative to the pure graphene TM and leads to a distinctive peak in the differential conductance indicating the doping level, a characteristic not observed in pure graphene.