Embedded ribbons of graphene allotropes: an extended defect perspective

Four fundamental dimer manipulations can be used to produce a variety of localized and extended defect structures in graphene. Two-dimensional templates result in graphene allotropes, here viewed as extended defects, which can exhibit either metallic or semiconducting electrical character. Embedded allotropic ribbons—i.e. thin swaths of the new allotropes—can also be created within graphene. We examined these ribbons and found that they maintain the electrical character of their parent allotrope even when only a few atoms in width. Such extended defects may facilitate the construction of single atomic layer carbon circuitry.