Electronic structure of stacking faults in rhombohedral graphite

The electronic structure of stacking faults and surfaces without and with an additional displaced layer is calculated for the case of rhombohedral (ABC) graphite. The full-potential local-orbital code and the generalized gradient approximation to density functional theory are used. All considered surfaces and interfaces induce surface/interface bands. All discovered surface and interface bands are restricted to the vicinity of the symmetry line K-M in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone. There are groups of localized band pairs around +/- 0, +/- 0.2, and +/- 0.6 eV for one of the two considered types of stacking faults; +/- 0 and +/- 0.5 eV for the other type and for a displaced surface layer. At the K point in the Brillouin zone, there is a one-to-one correspondence between these localized bands and the eigenvalues of those linear atomic clusters, which are produced by the perturbation of periodicity due to the displaced surface layer or due to the stacking faults. Some of the localized bands produce strong van Hove singularities in the local density of states near the surface or interface at energies up to several 0.1 eV. It is suggested to check these findings experimentally by appropriate spectroscopic methods. Undisturbed bulk (ABC) graphite is virtually a zero-gap semiconductor with a minute density of states at the Fermi energy. Both the surface and any of the considered stacking faults produce sharp peaks in the local density of states near the perturbation at energies of about 10 meV around the Fermi energy. This should provide a considerable contribution to the conductivity and its temperature dependence for samples with stacking faults or large surface-to-volume fraction.