A first-principles investigation of the optical spectra of oxidized graphene

The electronic and optical properties of mono, di, tri, and tetravacancies in graphene are studied in comparison to each other, using density functional theory. In addition, oxidized monovacancies are considered for different oxygen concentrations. Pristine graphene is found to be more absorptive than any defect configuration at low energy. We demonstrate characteristic differences in the optical spectra of the various defects for energies up to 3 eV. This makes it possible to quantify by optical spectroscopy the ratios of the defect species present in a sample.