Novel electronic structures of superlattice composed of graphene and silicene

• Graphene/silicene superlattices exhibit metallic electronic properties.
• Dirac point of graphene is folded to the Γ-point in the superlattice system.
• Significant changes in the transport properties of the graphene layers are expected.
• Small amount of charge transfer from the graphene to the silicene layers is found.

Superlattice is a major force in providing man-made materials with unique properties. Here we report a study of the structural and electronic properties of a superlattice made with alternate stacking of graphene and hexagonal silicene. Three possible stacking models, i.e., the top-, bridge- and hollow-stacking, are considered. The top-stacking is found to be the most stable pattern. Although both the free-standing graphene and silicene are semi-metals, our results suggest that the graphene and silicene layers in the superlattice both exhibit metallic electronic properties due to a small amount of charge transfer from the graphene to the silicene layers. More importantly, the Dirac point of graphene is folded to the Γ-point of the superlattice, instead of the K-point in the isolated graphene. Such a change in the Dirac point of graphene could lead to significant change in the transportation property of the graphene layer. Moreover, the band structure and the charge transfer indicate that the interaction between the stacking sheets in the graphene/silicene superlattice is more than just the van der Waals interaction.

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