Self‐Passivation of Defects: Effects of High‐Energy Particle Irradiation on the Elastic Modulus of Multilayer Graphene

The elastic modulus of multilayer graphene is found to be more robust to damage created by high-energy α-particle irradiation as compared to monolayer graphene. Theoretical analysis indicates that irradiation of multilayer graphene generates interlayer links that potentially increase the stiffness of the multilayer by passivating local defects.