Stone-Wales-type transformations in carbon nanostructures driven by electron irradiation

Observations of topological defects associated with Stone-Wales-type transformations (i.e., bond rotations) in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images of carbon nanostructures are at odds with the equilibrium thermodynamics of these systems. Here, by combining aberration-corrected HRTEM experiments and atomistic simulations, we show that such defects can be formed by single electron impacts and, remarkably, at electron energies below the threshold for atomic displacements. We further study the mechanisms of irradiation-driven bond rotations and explain why electron irradiation at moderate electron energies (similar to 100 keV) tends to amorphize rather than perforate graphene. We also show via simulations that Stone-Wales defects can appear in curved graphitic structures due to incomplete recombination of irradiation-induced Frenkel defects, similar to formation of Wigner-type defects in silicon.