Electric-field screening in multilayer graphene

Electronic properties of multilayer graphene are now routinely controlled using out-of-plane applied electric fields thus enabling novel electronic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, we perform first-principles calculations with explicitly applied external electric field of varying strength on a large number of multilayer graphene models including twisted configurations. We show that multilayer graphene with N > 3 layers features a highly nonlinear electric-field screening and nonsymmetric distribution of the electrostatic potential. We further develop a highly accurate parameterization of the tight-binging model for describing multilayer graphene that includes both the electric-field screening and crystal-field splitting effects. Our work is important for the design of devices based on multilayer graphene as it provides quantitative description of the electric-field screening in this system.