RT Journal Article
T1 Addressing electron spins embedded in metallic graphene nanoribbons
A1 Friedrich, Niklas
A1 Menchón, Rodrigo E.
A1 Pozo Míguez, Iago
A1 Hieulle, Jeremy
A1 Vegliante, Alessio
A1 Li, Jingcheng
A1 Sánchez-Portal, Daniel
A1 Peña Gil, Diego
A1 García Lekue, Aran
A1 Pascual, Jose Ignacio
K1 Graphene nanoribbons
K1 Magnetism
K1 Ballistic transport
K1 On-surface synthesis
K1 Density functional theory
K1 Scanning tunneling microscopy
AB Spin-hosting graphene nanostructures are promising metal-free systems for elementary quantum spintronic devices. Conventionally, spins are protected from quenching byelectronic band gaps, which also hinder electronic access to their quantum state. Here, we present a narrow graphene nanoribbon substitutionally doped with boron heteroatoms thatcombines a metallic character with the presence of localized spin 1/2 states in its interior. The ribbon was fabricated by onsurface synthesis on a Au(111) substrate. Transport measurements through ribbons suspended between the tip and the sample of a scanning tunneling microscope revealed their ballistic behavior, characteristic of metallic nanowires. Conductance spectra show fingerprints of localized spin states in the form of Kondo resonances and inelastic tunneling excitations. Density functional theory rationalizes the metallic character of the graphene nanoribbon due to the partial depopulation of the valence band induced by the boron atoms. The transferred charge builds localized magnetic moments around the boron atoms. The orthogonal symmetry of the spin-hosting state’s andthe valence band’s wave functions protects them from mixing, maintaining the spin states localized. The combination of ballistic transport and spin localization into a single graphene nanoribbon offers the perspective of electronically addressing and controlling carbon spins in real device architectures
PB ACS Publications
SN 1936-0851
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29185
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29185
LA eng
NO ACS Nano (2022). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c05673
NO We gratefully acknowledge financial support from Grants PID2019-107338RB-C61, PID2019-107338RB-C62, PID2019-107338RB-C66, PID2019-110037GB-I00, and PCI2019-111933-2 and the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program CEX2020-001038-M funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Union (EU) H2020 program through the FET Open project SPRING (Grant Agreement No. 863098), the Xunta de Galicia (Centro de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019–2022, ED431G 2019/03), the Dpto. Educación Gobierno Vasco (Grant Nos. PIBA-2020-1-0014, IT1246-19, and IT-1569-22) and the Programa Red Guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación 2021 (Grant No. 2021-CIEN-000070-01. Gipuzkoa Next)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026