On the Differing Sensitivity to Chemical Gating of Single and Double Layer Epitaxial Graphene Explored Using Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy

Using environmental scanning Kelvin probe microscopy, we show that the position of the Fermi level of single layer graphene is more sensitive to chemical gating than that of double layer graphene. We calculate that the difference in sensitivity to chemical gating is not entirely due to the difference in band structure of 1 and 2 layer graphene. The findings are important for gas sensing where the sensitivity of the electronic properties to gas adsorption is monitored and suggest that single layer graphene could make a more sensitive gas sensor than double layer graphene. We propose that the difference in surface potential between adsorbate-free single and double layer graphene, measured using scanning kelvin probe microscopy, can be used as a noninvasive method of estimating substrate-induced doping in epitaxial graphene.