Energy gaps in etched graphene nanoribbons

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electronic properties of etched graphene nanoribbons, revealing two key voltage scales linked to localized states and disorder, with experimental evidence from transport measurements and single-electron transistor analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental characterization of energy gaps and localized states in etched graphene nanoribbons, highlighting the roles of charging energy and disorder potential.

Findings

Two distinct voltage scales characterize conductance suppression.

Localized states exhibit varying gate lever arms, indicating spatial spread.

Charging energy is approximately 10 meV, disorder potential around 100 meV.

Abstract

Transport measurements on an etched graphene nanoribbon are presented. It is shown that two distinct voltage scales can be experimentally extracted that characterize the parameter region of suppressed conductance at low charge density in the ribbon. One of them is related to the charging energy of localized states, the other to the strength of the disorder potential. The lever arms of gates vary by up to 30% for different localized states which must therefore be spread in position along the ribbon. A single-electron transistor is used to prove the addition of individual electrons to the localized states. In our sample the characteristic charging energy is of the order of 10 meV, the characteristic strength of the disorder potential of the order of 100 meV.