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An extended defect in graphene as a metallic wire

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 326–329 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Many proposed applications of graphene require the ability to tune its electronic structure at the nanoscale1,2. Although charge transfer3 and field-effect doping4 can be applied to manipulate charge carrier concentrations, using them to achieve nanoscale control remains a challenge. An alternative approach is ‘self-doping’5, in which extended defects are introduced into the graphene lattice. The controlled engineering of these defects represents a viable approach to creation and nanoscale control of one-dimensional charge distributions with widths of several atoms6. However, the only experimentally realized extended defects so far have been the edges of graphene nanoribbons7,8,9,10, which show dangling bonds that make them chemically unstable11,12,13. Here, we report the realization of a one-dimensional topological defect in graphene, containing octagonal and pentagonal sp2-hybridized carbon rings embedded in a perfect graphene sheet. By doping the surrounding graphene lattice, the defect acts as a quasi-one-dimensional metallic wire. Such wires may form building blocks for atomic-scale, all-carbon electronics.

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Figure 1: Structural model and schematic formation of an extended one-dimensional defect in graphene.
Figure 2: Scanning tunnelling microscopy images of graphene on Ni(111).
Figure 3: Scanning tunnelling microscopy images of extended one-dimensional defects in graphene.
Figure 4: Electronic structure of the extended one-dimensional defect.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Basic Energy Science, US Department of Energy. Calculations were performed using NSF TeraGrid facilities, USF Research Computing Cluster, and the computational facilities of Materials Simulation Laboratory at the University of South Florida (funded by ARO DURIP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, 33620, Florida, USA

    Jayeeta Lahiri, You Lin, Pinar Bozkurt, Ivan I. Oleynik & Matthias Batzill

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  1. Jayeeta Lahiri
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  2. You Lin
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  3. Pinar Bozkurt
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  4. Ivan I. Oleynik
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  5. Matthias Batzill
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Contributions

J.L. conducted and analysed the experiments. Y.L. and P.B. performed and analysed the DFT calculations. I.I.O. directed the computational studies and contributed to writing the manuscript. M.B. directed the research and wrote the manuscript. All authors edited and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Matthias Batzill.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Lahiri, J., Lin, Y., Bozkurt, P. et al. An extended defect in graphene as a metallic wire. Nature Nanotech 5, 326–329 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.53

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