title: Resolving Atomic Connectivity in Graphene Nanostructure Junctions.
abstract: We report on the structural characterization of junctions between atomically well-defined graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) by means of low-temperature, noncontact scanning probe microscopy. We show that the combination of simultaneously acquired frequency shift and tunneling current maps with tight binding (TB) simulations allows a comprehensive characterization of the atomic connectivity in the GNR junctions. The proposed approach can be generally applied to the investigation of graphene nanomaterials and their interconnections and is thus expected to become an important tool in the development of graphene-based circuitry.
authors.affiliation: †nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dienel
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.|§PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.affiliation: †nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hajo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Söde
authors.affiliation: ∥Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.|⊥Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Xinliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: ∥Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müllen
authors.affiliation: †nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruffieux
authors.affiliation: †nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.|#Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fasel
authors.affiliation: †nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gröning
keywords: Two-dimensional material; graphene nanoribbon; nc-AFM; noncontact atomic force microscopy; scanning tunneling microscopy; tight binding