Massless Dirac fermions in epitaxial graphene on Fe(110)

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the presence of massless Dirac fermions in epitaxial graphene grown on Fe(110), revealing unique anisotropic electronic properties and the absence of superlattice effects despite significant corrugation.

Contribution

It provides the first evidence of intact Dirac cones in graphene on Fe(110), highlighting the influence of substrate-induced anisotropy on graphene's electronic structure.

Findings

Massless Dirac fermions observed in graphene on Fe(110)

Anisotropic quasi-one-dimensional structure induced by Fe(110)

No detectable superlattice or quantum-size effects despite large corrugation

Abstract

Graphene grown on Fe(110)by chemical vapor deposition using propylene is investigated by means of angle-resolved photoemission. The presence of massless Dirac fermions is clearly evidenced by the observation of a fully intact Dirac cone. Unlike Ni(111) and Co(0001), the Fe(110) imposes a strongly anisotropic quasi-one-dimensional structure on the graphene. Certain signatures of a superlattice effect appear in the dispersion of its \sigma-bands but the Dirac cone does not reveal any detectable superlattice or quantum-size effects although the graphene corrugation is twice as large as in the established two-dimensional graphene superlattice on Ir(111).