Study of the crystal and electronic structure of graphene films grown on 6$H$-SiC (0001)

The structural, chemical, and electronic properties of epitaxial graphene films grown by thermal decomposition of the Si-face of a semi-insulating 6$H$-SiC substrate in an argon environment are studied by Raman spectroscopy, atomic-force microscopy, the low-energy electron diffraction method, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the carbon $K$ edge. It is shown that the results of a systematic integrated study make it possible to optimize the growth parameters and develop a reliable technology for the growth of high-quality single-layer graphene films with a small fraction of bilayer graphene inclusions.