First-principles total energy calculations are performed to investigate the energetics and electronic structures of graphene adsorbed on both an oxygen-terminated ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$ (0001) surface and a fully hydroxylated ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$ (0001) surface. We find that there are several stable adsorption sites for graphene on both O-terminated and hydroxylated ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$ surfaces. The binding energy in the most stable geometry is found to be 15 meV per C atom, indicating a weak interaction between graphene and ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$ (0001) surfaces. We also find that the graphene adsorbed on ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$ is a semiconductor irrespective of the adsorption arrangement due to the variation of on-site energy induced by the ${\mathrm{SiO}}_2$ substrate.

• Received 8 September 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.106801