9 research outputs found
Width and Crystal Orientation Dependent Band Gap Renormalization in Substrate-Supported Graphene Nanoribbons
The
excitation energy levels of two-dimensional (2D) materials
and their one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, such as graphene nanoribbons
(GNRs), are strongly affected by the presence of a substrate due to
the long-range screening effects. We develop a first-principles approach
combining density functional theory (DFT), the GW approximation, and
a semiclassical image-charge model to compute the electronic band
gaps in planar 1D systems in weak interaction with the surrounding
environment. Application of our method to the specific case of GNRs
yields good agreement with the range of available experimental data
and shows that the band gap of substrate-supported GNRs are reduced
by several tenths of an electronvolt compared to their isolated counterparts,
with a width and orientation-dependent renormalization. Our results
indicate that the band gaps in GNRs can be tuned by controlling screening
at the interface by changing the surrounding dielectric materials
Aluminum Conducts Better than Copper at the Atomic Scale: A First-Principles Study of Metallic Atomic Wires
Using a first-principles density functional method, we have studied the electronic structure, electronâphonon coupling, and quantum transport properties of atomic wires of Ag, Al, Au, and Cu. Non-equilibrium Greenâs function-based transport studies of finite atomic wires suggest that the conductivity of Al atomic wires is higher than that of Ag, Au, and Cu in contrast to the bulk where Al has the lowest conductivity among these systems. This is attributed to the higher number of eigenchannels in Al wires, which becomes the determining factor in the ballistic limit. On the basis of density functional perturbation theory, we find that the electronâphonon coupling constant of the Al atomic wire is lowest among the four metals studied, and more importantly, that the value is reduced by a factor of 50 compared to the bulk
Quantum Dots in Graphene Nanoribbons
Graphene
quantum dots (GQDs) hold great promise for applications
in electronics, optoelectronics, and bioelectronics, but the fabrication
of widely tunable GQDs has remained elusive. Here, we report the fabrication
of atomically precise GQDs consisting of low-bandgap <i>N</i> = 14 armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR) segments that are achieved
through edge fusion of <i>N</i> = 7 AGNRs. The so-formed
intraribbon GQDs reveal deterministically defined, atomically sharp
interfaces between wide and narrow AGNR segments and host a pair of
low-lying interface states. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy
measurements complemented by extensive simulations reveal that their
energy splitting depends exponentially on the length of the central
narrow bandgap segment. This allows tuning of the fundamental gap
of the GQDs over 1 order of magnitude within a few nanometers length
range. These results are expected to pave the way for the development
of widely tunable intraribbon GQD-based devices
Photoinduced Water Oxidation at the Aqueous GaN (101Ě 0) Interface: Deprotonation Kinetics of the First Proton-Coupled Electron-Transfer Step
Photoelectrochemical water splitting
plays a key role in a promising
path to the carbon-neutral generation of solar fuels. Wurzite GaN
and its alloys (e.g., GaN/ZnO and InGaN) are demonstrated photocatalysts
for water oxidation, and they can drive the overall water splitting
reaction when coupled with co-catalysts for proton reduction. The
present work investigates the water oxidation mechanism on the prototypical
GaN (101Ě
0) surface using a combined ab initio molecular dynamics
and molecular cluster model approach taking into account the role
of water dissociation and hydrogen bonding within the first solvation
shell of the hydroxylated surface. The investigation of free-energy
changes for the four proton-coupled electron-transfer (PCET) steps
of the water oxidation mechanism shows that the first PCET step for
the conversion of âGaâOH to âGaâO<sup>â˘â</sup> requires the highest energy input. The study
further examines the sequential PCETs, with the proton transfer (PT)
following the electron transfer (ET), and finds that photogenerated
holes localize on surface âNH sites, and the calculated free-energy
changes indicate that PCET through âNH sites is thermodynamically
more favorable than âOH sites. However, proton transfer from
âOH sites with subsequent localization of holes on oxygen atoms
is kinetically favored owing to hydrogen bonding interactions at the
GaN (101Ě
0)âwater interface. The deprotonation of surface
âOH sites is found to be the limiting factor for the generation
of reactive oxyl radical ion intermediates and consequently for water
oxidation
Periodic Arrays of Phosphorene Nanopores as Antidot Lattices with Tunable Properties
A tunable
band gap in phosphorene extends its applicability in
nanoelectronic and optoelectronic applications. Here, we propose to
tune the band gap in phosphorene by patterning antidot lattices, which
are periodic arrays of holes or nanopores etched in the material,
and by exploiting quantum confinement in the corresponding nanoconstrictions.
We fabricated antidot lattices with radii down to 13 nm in few-layer
black phosphorus flakes protected by an oxide layer and observed suppression
of the in-plane phonon modes relative to the unmodified material <i>via</i> Raman spectroscopy. In contrast to graphene antidots,
the Raman peak positions in few-layer BP antidots are unchanged, in
agreement with predicted power spectra. We also use DFT calculations
to predict the electronic properties of phosphorene antidot lattices
and observe a band gap scaling consistent with quantum confinement
effects. Deviations are attributed primarily to self-passivating edge
morphologies, where each phosphorus atom has the same number of bonds
per atom as the pristine material so that no dopants can saturate
dangling bonds. Quantum confinement is stronger for the zigzag edge
nanoconstrictions between the holes as compared to those with armchair
edges, resulting in a roughly bimodal band gap distribution. Interestingly,
in two of the antidot structures an unreported self-passivating reconstruction
of the zigzag edge endows the systems with a metallic component. The
experimental demonstration of antidots and the theoretical results
provide motivation to further scale down nanofabrication of antidots
in the few-nanometer size regime, where quantum confinement is particularly
important
Revealing the Electronic Structure of Silicon Intercalated Armchair Graphene Nanoribbons by Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy
The electronic properties
of graphene nanoribbons grown on metal substrates are significantly
masked by the ones of the supporting metal surface. Here, we introduce
a novel approach to access the frontier states of armchair graphene
nanoribbons (AGNRs). The in situ intercalation of Si at the AGNR/Au(111)
interface through surface alloying suppresses the strong contribution
of the Au(111) surface state and allows for an unambiguous determination
of the frontier electronic states of both wide and narrow band gap
AGNRs. First-principles calculations provide insight into substrate
induced screening effects, which result in a width-dependent band
gap reduction for substrate-supported AGNRs. The strategy reported
here provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the electronic properties
of various kinds of graphene nanomaterials supported on metal substrates
Controlled Sculpture of Black Phosphorus Nanoribbons
Black phosphorus
(BP) is a highly anisotropic allotrope of phosphorus
with great promise for fast functional electronics and optoelectronics.
We demonstrate the controlled structural modification of few-layer
BP along arbitrary crystal directions with sub-nanometer precision
for the formation of few-nanometer-wide armchair and zigzag BP nanoribbons.
Nanoribbons are fabricated, along with nanopores and nanogaps, using
a combination of mechanicalâliquid exfoliation and <i>in situ</i> transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning
TEM nanosculpting. We predict that the few-nanometer-wide BP nanoribbons
realized experimentally possess clear one-dimensional quantum confinement,
even when the systems are made up of a few layers. The demonstration
of this procedure is key for the development of BP-based electronics,
optoelectronics, thermoelectrics, and other applications in reduced
dimensions
Controlled Sculpture of Black Phosphorus Nanoribbons
Black phosphorus
(BP) is a highly anisotropic allotrope of phosphorus
with great promise for fast functional electronics and optoelectronics.
We demonstrate the controlled structural modification of few-layer
BP along arbitrary crystal directions with sub-nanometer precision
for the formation of few-nanometer-wide armchair and zigzag BP nanoribbons.
Nanoribbons are fabricated, along with nanopores and nanogaps, using
a combination of mechanicalâliquid exfoliation and <i>in situ</i> transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning
TEM nanosculpting. We predict that the few-nanometer-wide BP nanoribbons
realized experimentally possess clear one-dimensional quantum confinement,
even when the systems are made up of a few layers. The demonstration
of this procedure is key for the development of BP-based electronics,
optoelectronics, thermoelectrics, and other applications in reduced
dimensions
Heteroatom-Doped Perihexacene from a Double Helicene Precursor: On-Surface Synthesis and Properties
We report on the
surface-assisted synthesis and spectroscopic characterization
of the hitherto longest periacene analogue with oxygenâboronâoxygen
(OBO) segments along the zigzag edges, that is, a heteroatom-doped
perihexacene <b>1</b>. Surface-catalyzed cyclodehydrogenation
successfully transformed the double helicene precursor <b>2</b>, i.e., 12a,26a-dibora-12,13,26,27-tetraoxa-benzoÂ[1,2,3-<i>hi</i>:4,5,6-<i>h</i>â˛<i>i</i>â˛]Âdihexacene,
into the planar perihexacene analogue <b>1</b>, which was visualized
by scanning tunneling microscopy and noncontact atomic force microscopy.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, together with
theoretical modeling, on both precursor <b>2</b> and product <b>1</b>, provided further insights into the cyclodehydrogenation
process. Moreover, the nonplanar precursor <b>2</b> underwent
a conformational change upon adsorption on surfaces, and one-dimensional
self-assembled superstructures were observed for both <b>2</b> and <b>1</b> due to the presence of OBO units along the zigzag
edges