Stephen R. Power and Antti-Pekka Jauho, Centre for Nanostructured Graphene (CNG), DTU Nanotech, Technical University of Denmark

Nanostructuring of graphene is in part motivated by the requirement to open a gap in the electronic band structure of graphene. Periodically perforated graphene sheets (antidot lattices) are predicted to have such a gap.
These systems have been investigated experimentally and theoretically with a view towards application in transistor or waveguiding devices. The desired properties have been predicted for atomically precise systems, but fabrication introduces significant disorder in the shape, position and edge configurations of individual antidots.
We calculate the electronic transport properties of a range of graphene antidot devices to determine the effect of such disorders on their performance. Modest geometric disorder has a detrimental effect on the performance of devices containing small, tightly packed antidots which show optimal performance for pristine lattices.
Larger antidots, meanwhile, display a range of effects strongly dependent on their edge geometry.
The transport gap of antidot systems with armchair edges is far more robust than those composed from antidots with zigzag or mixed edges. Waveguiding devices are also investigated, where the role of disorder is different and can enhance performance by extending the energy range over which waveguiding behaviour is observed. Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/1407.0311

Stephen Power is currently a post doctoral researcher in the Center for Nanostructured Graphene (CNG), based at the Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology (DTU Nanotech), Technical University of Denmark. He is primarily interested in the electronic, magnetic and transport properties of graphene-based systems. He received his B.A. in Theoretical Physics (2007) and Ph.D (2012) from Trinity College Dublin.