AC/AB Stacking Boundaries in Bilayer Graphene

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Nano Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/nl4013979· OSTI ID:1089247

Lin, Junhao ^[1]; Fang, Wenjing ^[2]; Zhou, Wu ^[1]; Lupini, Andrew R ^[1]; Idrobo Tapia, Juan C ^[1]; Kong, Jing ^[2]; Pennycook, Stephen J ^[1]; Pantelides, Sokrates T ^[1]

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1. ORNL
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Boundaries, including phase boundaries, grain boundaries, and domain boundaries, are known to have an important influence on material properties. Here, dark-field (DF) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging are combined to provide a full view of boundaries between AB and AC stacking domains in bilayer graphene across length scales from discrete atoms to the macroscopic continuum. Combining the images with results obtained by density functional theory (DFT) and classical molecular dynamics calculations, we demonstrate that the AB/AC stacking boundaries in bilayer graphene are nanometer-wide strained channels, mostly in the form of ripples, producing smooth low-energy transitions between the two different stackings. Our results provide a new understanding of the novel stacking boundaries in bilayer graphene, which may be applied to other layered two-dimensional materials as well.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). High Temperature Materials Lab. (HTML); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shared Research Equipment Collaborative Research Center
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1089247
• Journal Information: Nano Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 7; ISSN 1530--6984
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English