Bandgap Opening in Graphene Antidot Lattices: The Missing Half

The electronic structure of graphene antidot lattices (GALs) with zigzag hole edges was studied with first-principles calculations. It was revealed that half of the possible GAL patterns were unintentionally missed in the usual construction models used in earlier studies. With the complete models, the bandgap of the GALs was sensitive to the width W of the wall between the neighboring holes. A nonzero bandgap was opened in hexagonal GALs with even W, while the bandgap remained closed in those with odd W. Similar alternating gap opening/closing with W was also demonstrated in rhombohedral GALs. Moreover, analytical solutions of single-walled GALs were derived based on a tight-binding model to determine the location of the Dirac points and the energy dispersion, which confirmed the unique effect in GALs.