Nitrogen-Doped Graphitic Nanoribbons: Synthesis, Characterization and Transport

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Advanced Functional Materials

OSTI ID:1061577

Jia, Xiaoting ^[1]; Dresselhaus, M ^[1]; Cruz Silva, Eduardo ^[2]; Munoz-Sandoval, E ^[3]; Sumpter, Bobby G ^[2]; Terrones Maldonado, Humberto ^[2]; Terrones Maldonado, Humberto ^[2]; Lopez, Florentino ^[4]

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1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2. ORNL
3. Instituto de Microelectronica de Madrid (CNM, CSIC)
4. IPICyT

Nitrogen-doped graphitic nanoribbons (Nx-GNRs), synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using pyrazine as a nitrogen precursor, are reported for the first time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveal that the synthesized materials are formed by multi-layered corrugated graphitic nanoribbons (GNRs) which in most cases exhibit the formation of curved graphene edges (loops). This suggests that during growth, nitrogen atoms promote loop formation; undoped GNRs do not form loops at their edges. Transport measurements on individual pure carbon GNRs exhibit a linear I-V (current-voltage) behavior, whereas Nx-GNRs show reduced current responses following a semiconducting-like behavior, which becomes more prominent for high nitrogen concentrations. To better understand the experimental findings, electron density of states (DOS), quantum conductance for nitrogen doped zigzag and armchair single-layer GNRs are calculated for different N doping concentrations using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green functions. These calculations confirm the crucial role of nitrogen atoms in the transport properties, confirming that the nonlinear I-V curves are due to the presence of nitrogen atoms within the Nx-GNRs lattice that act as scattering sites. These characteristic Nx-GNRs transport could be advantageous in the fabrication of electronic devices including sensors in which metal-like undoped GNRs are unsuitable.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1061577
• Journal Information: Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. TBD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English