Direct writing of heterostructures in single atomically precise graphene nanoribbons
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
- North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Sciences and Engineering Division
- North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Physics; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Sciences and Engineering Division
Precision control of interfacial structures and electronic properties is the key to the realization of functional heterostructures. Here, utilizing the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) both as a manipulation and characterization tool, we demonstrate the fabrication of a heterostructure in a single atomically precise graphene nanoribbon (GNR) and report its electronic properties. The heterostructure is made of a seven-carbon-wide armchair GNR and a lower band gap intermediate ribbon synthesized bottom-up from a molecular precursor on an Au substrate. The short GNR segments are directly written in the ribbon with a STM tip to form atomic precision intraribbon heterostructures. Based on STM studies combined with density functional theory calculations, we show that the heterostructure has a type-I band alignment, with manifestations of quantum confinement and orbital hybridization. Finally, our finding demonstrates a feasible strategy to create a double-barrier quantum dot structure with atomic precision for functionalities, such as negative differential resistance devices in GNR-based nanoelectronics.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; FG02-98ER45685
- OSTI ID:
- 1489549
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1489426
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 1; ISSN 2475-9953
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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