Enhanced Vertical Conductivity in Few-layer Graphene and Graphite with Transition Metal Intercalation: a Theoretical Study

By using density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s function method, we investigate the out-of-plane (vertical) electronic and ballistic transport properties of Ti- and Cu-intercalated graphene. A significant enhancement of the vertical conductivity at zero bias is observed in both graphite intercalation compound bulk models and few-layer graphene with Cu contacts. Such conductivity can be further enhanced if Ti is intercalated between graphene and Cu contact. The enhancement can be as large as 1E5 times and the highest vertical conductivity reaches ~20% of that of copper in our simulation.