Controlled formation of sharp zigzag and armchair edges in graphitic nanoribbons.
Graphene nanoribbons can exhibit either quasi-metallic or semiconducting behavior, depending on the atomic structure of their edges. Thus, it is important to control the morphology and crystallinity of these edges for practical purposes. We demonstrated an efficient edge-reconstruction process, at the atomic scale, for graphitic nanoribbons by Joule heating. During Joule heating and electron beam irradiation, carbon atoms are vaporized, and subsequently sharp edges and step-edge arrays are stabilized, mostly with either zigzag- or armchair-edge configurations. Model calculations show that the dominant annealing mechanisms involve point defect annealing and edge reconstruction.
Jia
Xiaoting
X
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA.
Hofmann
Mario
M
Meunier
Vincent
V
Sumpter
Bobby G
BG
Campos-Delgado
Jessica
J
Romo-Herrera
José Manuel
JM
Son
Hyungbin
H
Hsieh
Ya-Ping
YP
Reina
Alfonso
A
Kong
Jing
J
Terrones
Mauricio
M
Dresselhaus
Mildred S
MS