Emergence of Atypical Properties in Assembled Graphene Nanoribbons

Eduardo Costa Girão, Liangbo Liang, Eduardo Cruz-Silva, Antônio Gomes Souza Filho, and Vincent Meunier

Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 135501 – Published 19 September 2011

Abstract

Graphitic nanowiggles (GNWs) are periodic repetitions of nonaligned finite-sized graphitic nanoribbon domains seamlessly stitched together without structural defects. These complex nanostructures have been recently fabricated [Cai et al., Nature (London) 466, 470 (2010)] and are here predicted to possess unusual properties, such as tunable band gaps and versatile magnetic behaviors. We used first-principles theory to highlight the microscopic origins of the emerging electronic and magnetic properties of the main subclasses of GNWs. Our study establishes a road map for guiding the design and synthesis of specific GNWs for nanoelectronic, optoelectronic, and spintronic applications.

Received 20 May 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.135501

Authors & Affiliations

Eduardo Costa Girão^1,2, Liangbo Liang², Eduardo Cruz-Silva^2,3, Antônio Gomes Souza Filho¹, and Vincent Meunier²

¹Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
²Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180, USA
³Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA