Sub-5 nm, globally aligned graphene nanoribbons on Ge(001)

Journal Article · Mon May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4950959· OSTI ID:22590705

Kiraly, Brian; Mannix, Andrew J. ^[1]; Jacobberger, Robert M.; Arnold, Michael S. ^[2]; Fisher, Brandon L.

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1. Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Building 440, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) hold great promise for future electronics because of their edge and width dependent electronic bandgaps and exceptional transport properties. While significant progress toward GNR devices has been made, the field has been limited by difficulties achieving narrow widths, global alignment, and atomically pristine GNR edges on technologically relevant substrates. A recent advance has challenged these limits by using Ge(001) substrates to direct the bottom-up growth of GNRs with nearly pristine armchair edges and widths near ∼10 nm via atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. In this work, the growth of GNRs on Ge(001) is extended to ultra-high vacuum conditions, resulting in the realization of GNRs with widths narrower than 5 nm. Armchair graphene nanoribbons oriented along Ge 〈110〉 surface directions are achieved with excellent width control and relatively large bandgaps. The bandgap magnitude and electronic uniformity of these sub-5 nm GNRs are well-suited for emerging nanoelectronic applications.

• OSTI ID: 22590705
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 21; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALIGNMENT
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
GRAPHENE
NANOELECTRONICS
NANOSTRUCTURES
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
WIDTH