Atomically flat carbon monolayer as an extremely unstable quasi-2D mesoscopic quantum system

Strong Coulomb and exchange interactions between π electrons in an atomically flat carbon monolayer result in π electron localization and electron crystal formation and transform the layer into a simplest quasi-two-dimensional mesoscopic quantum system. Such a system must have dielectric and pronounced diamagnetic properties and a high sensitivity to external factors distorting its electron crystals. The instability manifests itself in a tendency of the monolayer to be transformed into a more stable carbon modification with a rolled-up or wrapped-up carbon skeleton, which is observed as a monolayer corrugation. Such a corrugated monolayer is characterized by the presence of excited π electrons, which are responsible for its physical and chemical properties.