Spatially resolving edge states of chiral graphene nanoribbons

A central question in the field of graphene-related research is how graphene behaves when it is patterned at the nanometre scale with different edge geometries. A fundamental shape relevant to this question is the graphene nanoribbon (GNR), a narrow strip of graphene that can have different chirality depending on the angle at which it is cut. Such GNRs have been predicted to exhibit a wide range of behaviour, including tunable energy gaps(1,2) and the presence of one-dimensional (1D) edge states(3-5) with unusual magnetic structure(6,7). Most GNRs measured up to now have been characterized by means of their electrical conductivity, leaving the relationship between electronic structure and local atomic geometry unclear(8-10). Here we present a sub-nanometre-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) study of GNRs that allows us to examine how GNR electronic structure depends on the chirality of atomically well-defined GNR edges. The GNRs used here were chemically synthesized using carbon nanotube (CNT) unzipping methods that allow flexible variation of GNR width, length, chirality, and substrate(11,12). Our STS measurements reveal the presence of 1D GNR edge states, the behaviour of which matches theoretical expectations for GNRs of similar width and chirality, including width-dependent energy splitting of the GNR edge state.