Twisted bilayer zigzag-graphene nanoribbon junctions with tunable edge states

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Dongfei Wang - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • De Liang Bao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Qi Zheng - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Chang Tian Wang - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Shiyong Wang - , Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) (Author)
  • Peng Fan - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Shantanu Mishra - , Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) (Author)
  • Lei Tao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Yao Xiao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Li Huang - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Xinliang Feng - , Chair of Molecular Functional Materials (cfaed), Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics (Author)
  • Klaus Müllen - , Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Author)
  • Yu Yang Zhang - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Roman Fasel - , Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) (Author)
  • Pascal Ruffieux - , Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) (Author)
  • Shixuan Du - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Hong Jun Gao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)

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.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number1018
JournalNature communications
Volume14
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 23 Feb 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 36823140