Funded by: MPG Headquarter, Max Planck Innovation
Description: Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are quasi-1D graphene strips that are emerging as promising candidates for the next generation of carbon-based nanoelectronic devices. Since the electronic properties of GNRs sensitively depend on their chemical structures, especially the width and edge topology, the preparation of GNRs with chemically defined structures is of critical importance for both a fundamental understanding of the physics at the atomic scale and the subsequent implementation of high-quality materials in electronic devices. Top-down approaches to fabricate GNRs – like electron-beam lithography of monolayer graphene or longitudinal unzipping of carbon nanotubes, generally suffer from low yields, non-uniform widths, and ill-defined edge structures. Only the bottom-up techniques by combining in-solution and on-surface syntheses allow one to construct a wide range of atomically precise GNRs with tunable electronic properties by using tailor-made molecular precursors. Although the necessary structural control of GNRs is now being achieved from bottom-up precision synthesis, their potential for quantum electronics remains largely unexplored due to enormous challenges in integrating these materials into devices. Here, we propose to use atomically precise GNRs as a novel organic platform for manipulation of their functionalities for nanoelectronic applications. The radically new devices will be formed by the integration of GNRs into a field effect transistor geometry. Our aim is to exploit GNRs as building blocks in electronics and spintronics, and in particular, tune their electronic and quantum properties for unrivalled device functionality. This will be achieved by designing and characterizing a range of precision GNRs from bottom-up chemical synthesis and then translating these new functionalities to technologically relevant scalable devices. By developing all the required material processing and device fabrication steps, GraSynD will unveil an atomic-scale electronics platform based on GNRs and exploit their intrinsic electronic and quantum nature and their exquisite tunability. The proposed technology is scalable, involving only one carbon material system, and will establish them as modular components for next generation electronic and spintronic devices. The interdisciplinary partners consisting of SMFD and NISE from MPI of Microstructure Physics (Halle) has complementary profiles and the necessary expertise in bottom-up synthesis/characterization of GNRs, device fabrication, quantum transport measurements, and nanoscale devices to achieve the committed objectives
Contact:
Ji.Ma@mpi-halle.mpg.de
