Twisted bilayer zigzag-graphene nanoribbon junctions with tunable edge states
Wang D, Bao DL, Zheng Q, Wang CT, Wang S, Fan P, Mishra S, Tao L, Xiao Y, Huang L, Feng X, Müllen K, Zhang YY, Fasel R, Ruffieux P, Du S, Gao HJ (2023)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2023
Journal
Book Volume: 14
Article Number: 1018
Journal Issue: 1
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36613-x
Abstract
Stacking two-dimensional layered materials such as graphene and transitional metal dichalcogenides with nonzero interlayer twist angles has recently become attractive because of the emergence of novel physical properties. Stacking of one-dimensional nanomaterials offers the lateral stacking offset as an additional parameter for modulating the resulting material properties. Here, we report that the edge states of twisted bilayer zigzag graphene nanoribbons (TBZGNRs) can be tuned with both the twist angle and the stacking offset. Strong edge state variations in the stacking region are first revealed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We construct and characterize twisted bilayer zigzag graphene nanoribbon (TBZGNR) systems on a Au(111) surface using scanning tunneling microscopy. A detailed analysis of three prototypical orthogonal TBZGNR junctions exhibiting different stacking offsets by means of scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals emergent near-zero-energy states. From a comparison with DFT calculations, we conclude that the emergent edge states originate from the formation of flat bands whose energy and spin degeneracy are highly tunable with the stacking offset. Our work highlights fundamental differences between 2D and 1D twistronics and spurs further investigation of twisted one-dimensional systems.
Involved external institutions
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
China (CN)
Technische Universität Dresden
Germany (DE)
Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt (Empa) / Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology
Switzerland (CH)
Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung (MPI-P) / Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Germany (DE)
China (CN)
Technische Universität Dresden
Germany (DE)
Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt (Empa) / Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology
Switzerland (CH)
Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung (MPI-P) / Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Germany (DE)
How to cite
APA:
Wang, D., Bao, D.L., Zheng, Q., Wang, C.T., Wang, S., Fan, P.,... Gao, H.J. (2023). Twisted bilayer zigzag-graphene nanoribbon junctions with tunable edge states. Nature Communications, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36613-x
MLA:
Wang, Dongfei, et al. "Twisted bilayer zigzag-graphene nanoribbon junctions with tunable edge states." Nature Communications 14.1 (2023).
BibTeX: Download