Prediction of electronic surface states in layered materials: Graphite

Thin graphite films consisting of up to 25 atomic layers are studied with self-consistent local-density all-electron theory and model-potential calculations. Unoccupied surface states confined in the direction of the c axis are predicted at 3.8 eV above the Fermi energy. They are split off from the bulk free-electron interlayer band. These results provide a convincing interpretation of the surface states found in recent inverse photoemission experiments by Fauster et al.