Spatially resolving edge states of chiral graphene nanoribbons

Abstract

A central question in the field of graphene-related research is how graphene behaves when it is patterned at the nanometre scale with different edge geometries. A fundamental shape relevant to this question is the graphene nanoribbon (GNR), a narrow strip of graphene that can have different chirality depending on the angle at which it is cut. Such GNRs have been predicted to exhibit a wide range of behaviour, including tunable energy gaps 1,2 and the presence of one-dimensional (1D) edge states 3-5 with unusual magnetic structure 6,7 . Most GNRs measured up to now have been characterized by means of their electrical conductivity, leaving the relationship between electronic structure and local atomic geometry unclear 8-10 . Here we present a sub-nanometre-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) study of GNRs that allows us to examine how GNR electronic structure depends on the chirality of atomically well-defined GNR edges. The GNRs used here were chemically synthesized using carbon nanotube (CNT) unzipping methods that allow flexible variation of GNR width, length, chirality, and substrate 11,12 . Our STS measurements reveal the presence of 1D GNR edge states, the behaviour of which matches theoretical expectations for GNRs of similar width and chirality, including width-dependent energy splitting of the GNR edge state. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.