Robust quantum engineering of current flow in carbon nanostructures at room temperature

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that quantum interference effects can be reliably used to control current flow in carbon nanostructures at room temperature, advancing the development of carbon-based nanoelectronics.

Contribution

The paper shows that quantum interference remains effective at room temperature in graphene nanoribbon-based structures, enabling practical quantum engineering of electronic transport.

Findings

Quantum interference persists at 300 K in NPGs.

Thermal vibrations weakly affect current along GNRs.

Transport across GNRs is completely blocked by QI at room temperature.

Abstract

Bottom-up on-surface synthesis enables the fabrication of carbon nanostructures with atomic precision. Good examples are graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), 1D conjugated polymers, and nanoporous graphenes (NPGs), which are gathering increasing attention for future carbon nanoelectronics. A key step is the ability to manipulate current flow within these nanomaterials. Destructive quantum interference (QI), long studied in the field of single-molecule electronics, has been proposed as the most effective way to achieve such control with molecular-scale precision. However, for practical applications, it is essential that such QI-engineering remains effective near or above room temperature. To assess this important point, here we combine large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and quantum transport calculations and focus our study on NPGs formed as arrays of laterally bonded GNRs. By considering various NPGs with different inter-GNR chemical connections we disentangle the different factors determining electronic transport in these carbon nanomaterials at 300 K. Our findings unequivocally demonstrate that QI survives at room temperature, with thermal vibrations weakly restricting current flow along GNRs while completely blocking transport across GNRs. Our results thus pave the way towards the future realization of QI-engineered carbon nanocircuitry operating at room temperature, which is a fundamental step towards carbon-based nanoelectronics and quantum technologies.