Dislocations in graphene

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability and electronic properties of various dislocations in flat graphene, revealing stable configurations and their potential to induce magnetism, differing from nanotube defects.

Contribution

It identifies and characterizes stable glide and shuffle dislocations in graphene and explores their electronic and magnetic implications.

Findings

Stable glide and shuffle dislocations identified in graphene.

Shuffle dislocations can induce local magnetic moments.

Stone Wales defects are unstable in flat graphene.

Abstract

We study the stability and evolution of various elastic defects in a flat graphene sheet and the electronic properties of the most stable configurations. Two types of dislocations are found to be stable: "glide" dislocations consisting of heptagon-pentagon pairs, and "shuffle" dislocations, an octagon with a dangling bond. Unlike the most studied case of carbon nanotubes, Stone Wales defects are unstable in the planar graphene sheet. Similar defects in which one of the pentagon-heptagon pairs is displaced vertically with respect to the other one are found to be dynamically stable. Shuffle dislocations will give rise to local magnetic moments that can provide an alternative route to magnetism in graphene.