K-intercalated carbon systems: Effects of dimensionality and substrate

Density functional theory is employed to investigate the electronic properties of K-intercalated carbon systems. Young's modulus indicates that the intercalation increases the intrinsic stiffness. For K-intercalated bilayer graphene on SiC(0001) the Dirac cone is maintained, whereas a trilayer configuration exhibits a small splitting at the Dirac point. Interestingly, in contrast to many other intercalated carbon systems, the presence of the SiC(0001) substrate does not suppress but rather enhances the charge carrier density. Reasonably high values are found for all systems, the highest carrier density for the bilayer. The band structure and electron-phonon coupling of free-standing K-intercalated bilayer graphene points to a high probability for superconductivity in this system. © 2012 Europhysics Letters Association.