title: AC/AB stacking boundaries in bilayer graphene.
abstract: Boundaries, including phase boundaries, grain boundaries, and domain boundaries, are known to have an important influence on material properties. Here, dark-field (DF) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging are combined to provide a full view of boundaries between AB and AC stacking domains in bilayer graphene across length scales from discrete atoms to the macroscopic continuum. Combining the images with results obtained by density functional theory (DFT) and classical molecular dynamics calculations, we demonstrate that the AB/AC stacking boundaries in bilayer graphene are nanometer-wide strained channels, mostly in the form of ripples, producing smooth low-energy transitions between the two different stackings. Our results provide a new understanding of the novel stacking boundaries in bilayer graphene, which may be applied to other layered two-dimensional materials as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.
authors.forename: Junhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Lupini
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Idrobo
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Pennycook
authors.forename: Sokrates T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Pantelides