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Topological Surface State in Epitaxial Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbons

Nguyen, Thi Thuy Nhung ; de Vries, Niels ; Karakachian, Hrag ; Gruschwitz, Markus ; Aprojanz, Johannes ; Zakharov, Alexei A. LU ; Polley, Craig LU ; Balasubramanian, Thiagarajan LU ; Starke, Ulrich and Flipse, Cornelis F.J. , et al. (2021) In Nano Letters 21(7). p.2876-2882
Abstract

Protected and spin-polarized transport channels are the hallmark of topological insulators, coming along with an intrinsic strong spin-orbit coupling. Here we identified such corresponding chiral states in epitaxially grown zigzag graphene nanoribbons (zz-GNRs), albeit with an extremely weak spin-orbit interaction. While the bulk of the monolayer zz-GNR is fully suspended across a SiC facet, the lower edge merges into the SiC(0001) substrate and reveals a surface state at the Fermi energy, which is extended along the edge and splits in energy toward the bulk. All of the spectroscopic details are precisely described within a tight binding model incorporating a Haldane term and strain effects. The concomitant breaking of time-reversal... (More)

Protected and spin-polarized transport channels are the hallmark of topological insulators, coming along with an intrinsic strong spin-orbit coupling. Here we identified such corresponding chiral states in epitaxially grown zigzag graphene nanoribbons (zz-GNRs), albeit with an extremely weak spin-orbit interaction. While the bulk of the monolayer zz-GNR is fully suspended across a SiC facet, the lower edge merges into the SiC(0001) substrate and reveals a surface state at the Fermi energy, which is extended along the edge and splits in energy toward the bulk. All of the spectroscopic details are precisely described within a tight binding model incorporating a Haldane term and strain effects. The concomitant breaking of time-reversal symmetry without the application of external magnetic fields is supported by ballistic transport revealing a conduction of G = e2/h.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ballistic transport channel, STM, tight binding, topological surface state, zigzag graphene nanoribbons
in
Nano Letters
volume
21
issue
7
pages
7 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:33819041
  • scopus:85104276007
ISSN
1530-6992
DOI
10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c05013
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
868b2c57-8784-4118-ac7e-9b3c696d1fc7
date added to LUP
2021-04-26 09:32:49
date last changed
2024-06-29 11:30:38
@article{868b2c57-8784-4118-ac7e-9b3c696d1fc7,
  abstract     = {{<p>Protected and spin-polarized transport channels are the hallmark of topological insulators, coming along with an intrinsic strong spin-orbit coupling. Here we identified such corresponding chiral states in epitaxially grown zigzag graphene nanoribbons (zz-GNRs), albeit with an extremely weak spin-orbit interaction. While the bulk of the monolayer zz-GNR is fully suspended across a SiC facet, the lower edge merges into the SiC(0001) substrate and reveals a surface state at the Fermi energy, which is extended along the edge and splits in energy toward the bulk. All of the spectroscopic details are precisely described within a tight binding model incorporating a Haldane term and strain effects. The concomitant breaking of time-reversal symmetry without the application of external magnetic fields is supported by ballistic transport revealing a conduction of G = e2/h.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nguyen, Thi Thuy Nhung and de Vries, Niels and Karakachian, Hrag and Gruschwitz, Markus and Aprojanz, Johannes and Zakharov, Alexei A. and Polley, Craig and Balasubramanian, Thiagarajan and Starke, Ulrich and Flipse, Cornelis F.J. and Tegenkamp, Christoph}},
  issn         = {{1530-6992}},
  keywords     = {{ballistic transport channel; STM; tight binding; topological surface state; zigzag graphene nanoribbons}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{2876--2882}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Nano Letters}},
  title        = {{Topological Surface State in Epitaxial Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbons}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c05013}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c05013}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}