  While numerous methods have been proposed to produce semiconducting graphene,
a significant bandgap has never been demonstrated. The reason is that,
regardless of the theoretical gap formation mechanism, disorder at the
sub-nanometer scale prevents the required chiral symmetry breaking necessary to
open a bandgap in graphene. In this work, we show for the first time that a 2D
semiconducting graphene film can be made by epitaxial growth. Using improved
growth methods, we show by direct band measurements that a bandgap greater than
0.5 eV can be produced in the first graphene layer grown on the SiC(0001)
surface. This work demonstrates that order, a property that remains lacking in
other graphene systems, is key to producing electronically viable
semiconducting graphene.

Materials Science