The design of d-character Dirac cones based on graphene

We introduce a new framework for designing a transition metal (TM) d-electrons dominant Dirac cone spectrum based on the hybridization between graphene and a modulated TM d impurity band. The obtained Dirac cone behaves like a 'copy' from graphene, insensitive to the TM coverage and order. First-principles calculations reveal such a system of Mn intercalated epitaxial graphene on SiC(0 0 0 1), dubbed manganosine. The robustness of the Dirac cone is discussed in terms of the possible imperfection of Mn atoms. The mechanism at work is expected to be rather general and may open the door to designing new d- or f-character Dirac systems.