Graphene Nanoribbons on Hexagonal Boron Nitride: Deposition and Transport Characterization

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the deposition of chemically synthesized graphene nanoribbons on hexagonal boron nitride and characterizes their transport properties, revealing Schottky contact behavior with metal electrodes.

Contribution

It presents a method for depositing and aligning cove-type graphene nanoribbons on hBN and investigates their electronic transport characteristics.

Findings

cGNRs form ordered domains on hBN

Transport dominated by Schottky contact behavior

Potential for nanoscale electronic applications

Abstract

Chemically synthesized "cove"-type graphene nanoribbons (cGNRs) of different widths were brought into dispersion and drop-cast onto exfoliated hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on a Si/SiO2 chip. With AFM we observed that the cGNRs form ordered domains aligned along the crystallographic axes of the hBN. Using electron beam lithography and metallization, we contacted the cGNRs with NiCr/Au, or Pd contacts and measured their I-V-characteristics. The transport through the ribbons was dominated by the Schottky behavior of the contacts between the metal and the ribbon.