Signatures of magnetism in zigzag graphene nanoribbon embedded in h-BN lattice

TL;DR

This study demonstrates experimental signatures of magnetism in zigzag graphene nanoribbons embedded in h-BN, revealing stable magnetic edge states with potential for spintronic applications through magneto-transport measurements.

Contribution

First experimental observation of magnetic edge states in zGNRs embedded in h-BN using scanning NV microscopy and magneto-transport measurements.

Findings

Magnetism confirmed by scanning NV center microscopy.

Observation of Fabry-Pérot interference patterns indicating coherent transport.

Large, anisotropic magnetoresistance observed at room temperature.

Abstract

Zigzag edges of graphene have long been predicted to exhibit magnetic electronic state near the Fermi level, which can cause spin-related phenomena and offer unique potentials for graphene-based spintronics. However, the magnetic conduction channels along these edges have yet been reported experimentally. Here, we report the observation on signatures of magnetism in zigzag graphene nanoribbons (zGNRs) embedded in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The in-plane bonding with BN can stabilize the edges of zGNRs, and thus enable a direct probing of the intrinsic magnetism. Firstly, the presence of magnetism of a zGNR was confirmed by scanning NV center microscopy. And then, zGNR was fabricated into a transistor with a width of ~9 nm wide and a channel length of sub-50 nm. By performing magneto-transport measurements, Fabry-P\'erot interference patterns were observed in the transistor at 4 Kelvin, which indicates a coherent transport through the channel. A large magnetoresistance of ~175 {\Omega}, corresponding to a ratio of ~1.3 %, was observed at the same temperature. More importantly, such magneto-transport signal is highly anisotropic on the magnetic field direction, and its appearance extends well above room temperature. All these evidences corroborate the existence of robust magnetic ordering in the edge state of zGNR. The findings on zGNR embedded in h-BN provide an effective platform for the future exploration of graphene-based spintronic devices.