Effect of the disorder in graphene grain boundaries: a wave packet dynamics study

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on Cu foil is one of the most promising methods to produce graphene samples despite of introducing numerous grain boundaries into the perfect graphene lattice. A rich variety of GB structures can be realized experimentally by controlling the parameters in the CVD method. Grain boundaries contain non-hexagonal carbon rings (4, 5, 7, 8 membered rings) and vacancies in various ratios and arrangements. Using wave packet dynamic (WPD) simulations and tight-binding electronic structure calculations, we have studied the effect of the structure of GBs on the transport properties. Three model GBs with increasing disorder were created in the computer: a periodic 5–7 GB, a “serpentine” GB, and a disordered GB containing 4, 8 membered rings and vacancies. It was found that for small energies (E = EF ± 1 eV) the transmission decreases with increasing disorder. Four membered rings and vacancies are identified as the principal scattering centers. Revealing the connection between the properties of GB and the CVD growth method may open new opportunities in the graphene based nanoelectronics.