A comparative investigation of an AB- and AA-stacked bilayer graphene sheet under an applied electric field: A density functional theory study

An AB- and AA-stacked bilayer graphene sheet (BLG) under an electric field is investigated by ab initio calculation. The interlayer distance between the two layers, band structures, and atomic charges of the system are investigated in the presence of different electric fields normal to the BLG. The AB-stacked BLG is able to tune the bandgap into 0.234 eV with the increase of the external electronic field to 1 V/nm, however, the AA-stacked BLG is not sensitive to the external electric field. In both the cases, the spacing between the BLG slightly change in terms of the electric field. The charges in the AB-stacked BLG are increased with the increase of the electric field, which is considered to be the reason that causes the bandgap opening in the AB-stacked BLG.