Article Title

Highly defective graphene: A key prototype of two-dimensional Anderson insulators

Authors

Aurélien Lherbier, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanoscience (IMCN), NAPS-ETSF, Chemin des étoiles 8, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Stephan Roche, CIN2 (ICN-CSIC) and Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avanats, 08070 Barcelona, Spain
Oscar A. Restrepo, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanoscience (IMCN), BSMA, Place Croix du Sud 1 (Boltzmann), 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Yann-Michel Niquet, L_Sim, SP2M, UMR-E CEA/UJF-Grenoble 1, INAC, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
Arnaud Delcorte, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanoscience (IMCN), BSMA, Place Croix du Sud 1 (Boltzmann), 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Jean-Christophe Charlier, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanoscience (IMCN), NAPS-ETSF, Chemin des étoiles 8, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Keywords

graphene, electronic transport, Anderson insulators, localization

Abstract

ABSTRACT Electronic structure and transport properties of highly defective two-dimensional (2D) sp2 graphene are investigated theoretically. Classical molecular dynamics are used to generate large graphene planes containing a considerable amount of defects. Then, a tight-binding Hamiltonian validated by ab initio calculations is constructed in order to compute quantum transport within a real-space order-N Kubo–Greenwood approach. In contrast to pristine graphene, the highly defective sp2 carbon sheets exhibit a high density of states at the charge neutrality point raising challenging questions concerning the electronic transport of associated charge carriers. The analysis of the electronic wavepacket dynamics actually reveals extremely strong multiple scattering effects giving rise to mean free paths as low as 1 nm and localization phenomena. Consequently, highly defective graphene is envisioned as a remarkable prototype of 2D Anderson insulating materials.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0309-7

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Aurélien Lherbier,Stephan Roche,Oscar A. Restrepo,Yann-Michel Niquet,Arnaud Delcorte,Jean-Christophe Charlier, Highly defective graphene: A key prototype of two-dimensional Anderson insulators. NanoRes.2013, 6(5): 326–334