We investigate the structural and electronic properties of nitrogen-doped epitaxial monolayer graphene and quasifreestanding monolayer graphene on $6H\text{−}\mathrm{SiC}(0001)$ by the normal incidence x-ray standing wave technique and by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy supported by density functional theory simulations. With the location of various nitrogen species uniquely identified, we observe that for the same doping procedure, the graphene support, consisting of substrate and interface, strongly influences the structural as well as the electronic properties of the resulting doped graphene layer. Compared to epitaxial graphene, quasifreestanding graphene is found to contain fewer nitrogen dopants. However, this lack of dopants is compensated by the proximity of nitrogen atoms at the interface that yield a similar number of charge carriers in graphene.

• Received 17 July 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.126805

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Published by the American Physical Society