Charge localization and hopping in a topologically engineered graphene nanoribbon

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 5142
• Main Authors: Pereira Júnior, Marcelo Lopes, de Oliveira Neto, Pedro Henrique, da Silva Filho, Demétrio Antônio, de Sousa, Leonardo Evaristo, E Silva, Geraldo Magela, Ribeiro Júnior, Luiz Antônio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 04.03.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Graphene; Localization; Topology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84626-7

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are promising quasi-one-dimensional materials with various technological applications. Recently, methods that allowed for the control of GNR's topology have been developed, resulting in connected nanoribbons composed of two distinct armchair GNR families. Here, we employed an extended version of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model to study the morphological and electronic properties of these novel GNRs. Results demonstrated that charge injection leads to the formation of polarons that localize strictly in the 9-AGNRs segments of the system. Its mobility is highly impaired by the system's topology. The polaron displaces through hopping between 9-AGNR portions of the system, suggesting this mechanism for charge transport in this material.