Raman spectroscopy of graphite intercalation compounds: Charge transfer, strain, and electron–phonon coupling in graphene layers (Phys. Status Solidi B 12/2014)

Abstract

Graphite intercalation compounds, a three-dimensional molecular system, has renascence as a powerful tool to study the effects of charge transfer, strain, and electron phonon coupling in graphene. Since 1980's, the use of alkali metals intercalated in between graphitic layers has been of high interest to the scientific community. In 2007 the discovery of superconductivity in Ca intercalated graphite attracted the attention to further investigate graphite intercalation compounds and develop high temperature superconductors. More recently, in 2010 the Nobel prize in physics was awarded for the discovery of graphene by mechanical exfoliation of graphite. Since then, a breakthrough in the study of graphene has exploded and different approaches have emerged to resolve the properties of this novel material. Graphite intercalation compounds are one of these approaches shown to be a highly efficient top-bottom method to analyze the electronic and mechanical properties of graphene. Additionally, they have brought information about doping levels, lattice parameters, and structural properties of mono-, bi-, tri- and few-layer graphene which will serve as an outstanding mechanism for future research in graphene based-materials and their composites. For further details see the Feature Article by Chacón-Torres et al. (pp. 2337–2355.)