Electronic and magnetic properties of the graphene/Eu/Ni(111) hybrid system

TL;DR

This study investigates how intercalating europium between graphene and Ni(111) alters the electronic and magnetic properties of the system, revealing significant changes due to Eu's influence on spin-polarized states.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of the electronic and magnetic modifications caused by Eu intercalation in the graphene/Ni(111) system using GGA+U calculations.

Findings

Eu intercalation drastically changes graphene's electronic structure.

Eu 4f states influence magnetic and spin-filtering properties.

Significant modifications compared to free-standing graphene and graphene/Ni(111).

Abstract

The electronic and magnetic properties of the graphene/Eu/Ni(111) intercalation-like system are studied in the framework of the GGA+U approach with dispersive interactions taken into account. Intercalation of monoatomic Eu layer underneath graphene on Ni(111) leads to the drastic changes of the electronic structure of graphene compared to free-standing graphene as well as graphene/Ni(111). The strong influence of the spin-polarised Eu 4f states, crossing the graphene-derived $\pi$ states, on magnetic properties of graphene and on spin-filtering properties of the graphene/Eu/Ni(111) trilayer is discussed.