Giant edge state splitting at atomically precise graphene zigzag edges
Zigzag edges of graphene nanostructures host localized electronic states that are predicted to be spin-polarized. However, these edge states are highly susceptible to edge roughness and interaction with a supporting substrate, complicating the study of their intrinsic electronic and magnetic structu...
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Published in | Nature communications Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 11507 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group UK
16.05.2016
Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Zigzag edges of graphene nanostructures host localized electronic states that are predicted to be spin-polarized. However, these edge states are highly susceptible to edge roughness and interaction with a supporting substrate, complicating the study of their intrinsic electronic and magnetic structure. Here, we focus on atomically precise graphene nanoribbons whose two short zigzag edges host exactly one localized electron each. Using the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope, the graphene nanoribbons are transferred from the metallic growth substrate onto insulating islands of NaCl in order to decouple their electronic structure from the metal. The absence of charge transfer and hybridization with the substrate is confirmed by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, which reveals a pair of occupied/unoccupied edge states. Their large energy splitting of 1.9 eV is in accordance with
ab initio
many-body perturbation theory calculations and reflects the dominant role of electron–electron interactions in these localized states.
The zigzag edges of graphene host edge-localized electronic states with aligned electron spins, but these states strongly interact with metallic substrates. Here, the authors measure the electronic structure of graphene nanoribbons after transferring them to an insulating support. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 These authors contributed equally to this work |
ISSN: | 2041-1723 2041-1723 |
DOI: | 10.1038/ncomms11507 |