A real-space study of random extended defects in solids: Application to disordered Stone-Wales defects in graphene

Abstract

We propose here a first-principles, parameter free, real space method for the study of disordered extended defects in solids. We shall illustrate the power of the technique with an application to graphene sheets with randomly placed Stone-Wales defects and shall examine the signature of such random defects on the density of states as a function of their concentration. The technique is general enough to be applied to a whole class of systems with lattice translational symmetry broken not only locally but by extended defects and defect clusters. The real space approach will allow us to distinguish signatures of specific defects and defect clusters.