Density functional study on the increment of carrier mobility in armchair graphenenanoribbons induced by Stone–Wales defects

Abstract

Armchair graphene nanoribbons and their derived structures containing Stone–Wales defects are investigated using a self-consistent field crystal orbital method based on density functional theory. The investigation indicates that both the nanoribbons and the defective structures are semiconductors. A low concentration of middle Stone–Wales defects generally increases the carrier mobility, calculated using deformation potential theory, while edge Stone–Wales defects decrease it. The largest increment of the carrier mobility is as high as 170%, which is explained by the lighter carrier effective mass with crystal orbital analysis.