Hole doping MgB$_2$ without chemical substitution

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel layered structure of MgB$_2$ and graphene to achieve hole doping without chemical substitution, predicting enhanced electronic properties beneficial for superconductivity.

Contribution

It introduces a new structural approach combining MgB$_2$ and graphene layers to induce hole doping through charge transfer, avoiding chemical substitutions.

Findings

Significant charge transfer from MgB$_2$ to graphene layers.

Enhanced density of states at the Fermi level predicted.

Structure has small excess energy compared to bulk materials.

Abstract

Structures for realizing hole-doped MgB$_2$ without appealing to chemical substitutions are proposed. These structures which consist of alternating MgB$_2$ and graphene layers have small excess energy compared to bulk graphite and MgB$_2$. Density functional theory based first-principles electronic structure calculations show significant charge transfer from the MgB$_2$ layer to graphene, resulting in effectively hole-doped MgB$_2$. Substantial enhancement in the density of states at the Fermi level of the proposed structure is predicted.