Dirac Fermions in Graphene with Stacking Fault Induced Periodic Line Defects

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry letters 2021-11, Vol.12 (44), p.10874-10879
• Main Authors: Kong, Weixiang, Wang, Rui, Xiao, Xiaoliang, Zhan, Fangyang, Gan, Li-Yong, Wei, Juan, Fan, Jing, Wu, Xiaozhi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Physical Insights into Quantum Phenomena and Function
• ISSN: 1948-7185; 1948-7185
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02996

The exploration of carbon phases with intact massless Dirac fermions in the presence of defects is critical for practical applications to nanoelectronics. Here, we identify by first-principles calculations that the Dirac cones can exist in graphene with stacking fault (SF) induced periodic line defects. These structures are width (n)-dependent to graphene nanoribbon and are thus termed as (SF) n -graphene. The electronic properties reveal that the semimetallic features with Dirac cones occur in (SF) n -graphene with n = 3m + 1, where m is a positive integer, and then lead to a quasi-one-dimensional conducting channel. Importantly, it is found that the twisted Dirac cone in the (SF)4-graphene is tunable among type-I, type-II, and type-III through a small uniaxial strain. The further stability analysis shows that (SF) n -graphene is thermodynamic stable. Our findings provide an artificial avenue for exploring Dirac Ffermions in carbon-allotropic structures in the presence of defects.