Interface structure of graphene on SiC: an ab initio and STM approach

High temperature treatment of SiC surfaces is a well-established technique for producing graphene directly on top of an insulating substrate. In this domain an important question is the influence of the substrate on the atomic and electronic structure of the graphene layers. This requires a detailed investigation of the interactions at the graphene-SiC interface. Surface science techniques and ab initio calculations are well suited for that purpose. In this paper, we present a brief review of the recent investigations performed in this domain by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and ab initio simulations. It is largely based on the work performed in our group, but it also provides a survey of the literature in these fields. Both the so-called Si and C face of the hexagonal 6H(4H)SiC{0 0 0 1} substrates will be considered, as they show markedly different types of behaviour.