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.