Spatial control of defect creation in grapheneat the nanoscale

摘要

Defects in graphene alter its electrical, chemical, magnetic and mechanical properties. Theintentional creation of defects in graphene offers a means for engineering its properties.Techniques such as ion irradiation intentionally induce atomic defects in graphene, for example,divacancies, but these defects are randomly scattered over large distances. Control of defectformation with nanoscale precision remains a significant challenge. Here we show controlover both the location and average complexity of defect formation in graphene by tailoringits exposure to a focussed electron beam. Divacancies and larger disordered structures areproduced within a 10×10nm2region of graphene and imaged after creation using an aberrationcorrected transmission electron microscope. some of the created defects were stable, whereasothers relaxed to simpler structures through bond rotations and surface adatom incorporation.These results are important for the utilization of atomic defects in graphene-based research.