Point defect formation energies in graphene from diffusion quantum Monte Carlo and density functional theory

TL;DR

This study compares the accuracy of density functional theory and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo in calculating defect formation energies in graphene, revealing DFT's underestimation and highlighting vibrational effects.

Contribution

It provides the first DMC calculations of defect formation energies in graphene, offering more accurate benchmarks for DFT methods.

Findings

DFT underestimates monovacancy formation energies by about 1 eV.

Vibrational effects significantly influence defect formation free energies.

Bulk silicon is more stable than monolayer silicene by approximately 0.75 eV per atom.

Abstract

Density functional theory (DFT) is widely used to study defects in monolayer graphene with a view to applications ranging from water filtration to electronics to investigation of radiation damage in graphite moderators. To assess the accuracy of DFT in such applications, we report diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations of the formation energies of some common and important point defects in monolayer graphene: monovacancies, Stone-Wales defects, and silicon substitutions. We find that standard DFT methods underestimate monovacancy formation energies by around 1 eV. The disagreement between DFT and DMC is somewhat smaller for Stone-Wales defects and silicon substitutions. We examine vibrational contributions to the free energies of formation for these defects, finding that vibrational effects are non-negligible. Finally, we compare the DMC atomization energies of monolayer graphene, monolayer silicene, and bulk silicon, finding that bulk silicon is significantly more stable than monolayer silicene by 0.7522(5) eV per atom.