Origin of the Flat Band in Heavily Cs-Doped Graphene

ACS Nano. 2020 Jan 28;14(1):1055-1069. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.9b08622. Epub 2019 Dec 20.

Abstract

A flat energy dispersion of electrons at the Fermi level of a material leads to instabilities in the electronic system and can drive phase transitions. Here we show that the flat band in graphene can be achieved by sandwiching a graphene monolayer by two cesium (Cs) layers. We investigate the flat band by a combination of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiment and the calculations. Our work highlights that charge transfer, zone folding of graphene bands, and the covalent bonding between C and Cs atoms are the origin of the flat energy band formation. Analysis of the Stoner criterion for the flat band suggests the presence of a ferromagnetic instability. The presented approach is an alternative route for obtaining flat band materials to twisting bilayer graphene which yields thermodynamically stable flat band materials in large areas.

Keywords: Stoner criterion; alkali-metal intercalation compound; angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy; flat band; graphene.