Quality control of on-surface-synthesised seven-atom wide armchair graphene nanoribbons.

On-surface synthesis is a powerful method for fabricating atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), but the products always include defective structures. In this study, scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to determine the length distribution of armchair-edge GNRs with a width of seven carbon atoms (7-AGNRs) synthesised on Au(111) and to characterise defective structures. The product quality was improved by increasing the precursor deposition amount because of a preference for intermolecular polymerisation over intramolecular cyclodehydrogenation at a high coverage. However, the annealing rate had a complex effect on the quality, with a low rate elongating 7-AGNRs but degenerating the length uniformity. These insights advance the understanding of the critical parameters for obtaining high-quality products in high yield by on-surface synthesis.

[1]  Junfa Zhu,et al.  Confined on-surface organic synthesis: Strategies and mechanisms , 2019, Surface Science Reports.

[2]  S. Clair,et al.  Controlling a Chemical Coupling Reaction on a Surface: Tools and Strategies for On-Surface Synthesis , 2019, Chemical reviews.

[3]  F. Giessibl.  The qPlus sensor, a powerful core for the atomic force microscope. , 2019, The Review of scientific instruments.

[4]  Xiaojun Wu,et al.  Kinetic Strategies for the Formation of Graphyne Nanowires via Sonogashira Coupling on Ag(111). , 2018, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[5]  H. Fuchs,et al.  Reaction Selectivity in On-Surface Chemistry by Surface Coverage Control-Alkyne Dimerization versus Alkyne Trimerization. , 2018, Chemistry.

[6]  G. Ceballos,et al.  On-surface synthesis of superlattice arrays of ultra-long graphene nanoribbons. , 2018, Chemical communications.

[7]  A. T. S. Wee,et al.  Supramolecular Assemblies on Surfaces: Nanopatterning, Functionality, and Reactivity. , 2018, ACS nano.

[8]  W. Xu,et al.  On‐Surface Synthesis of Carbon Nanostructures , 2018, Advanced materials.

[9]  G. Contini,et al.  Reversibility and intermediate steps as key tools for the growth of extended ordered polymers via on-surface synthesis , 2018, Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal.

[10]  On-Surface Synthesis II: Proceedings of the International Workshop On-Surface Synthesis, San Sebastián, 27-30 June 2016 , 2018 .

[11]  Yongli Gao,et al.  Effects of monolayer Bi on the self-assembly of DBBA on Au(111) , 2017 .

[12]  G. Xu,et al.  Steering Surface Reaction Dynamics with a Self-Assembly Strategy: Ullmann Coupling on Metal Surfaces. , 2017, Angewandte Chemie.

[13]  J. Bernholc,et al.  Seamless Staircase Electrical Contact to Semiconducting Graphene Nanoribbons. , 2017, Nano letters.

[14]  P. Jelínek.  High resolution SPM imaging of organic molecules with functionalized tips , 2017, Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal.

[15]  J. Thijssen,et al.  Electronic components embedded in a single graphene nanoribbon , 2017, Nature Communications.

[16]  H. Sakaguchi,et al.  Strain-induced skeletal rearrangement of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon on a copper surface , 2017, Nature Communications.

[17]  Harald Fuchs,et al.  Frontiers of on-surface synthesis: From principles to applications , 2017 .

[18]  M. Moret,et al.  Aryl Radical Geometry Determines Nanographene Formation on Au(111). , 2016, Angewandte Chemie.

[19]  H. Fuchs,et al.  On-Surface Domino Reactions: Glaser Coupling and Dehydrogenative Coupling of a Biscarboxylic Acid To Form Polymeric Bisacylperoxides. , 2016, Angewandte Chemie.

[20]  P. Ruffieux,et al.  On‐Surface Synthesis of Atomically Precise Graphene Nanoribbons , 2016, Advanced materials.

[21]  K. Müllen,et al.  Purely Armchair or Partially Chiral: Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy Characterization of Dibromo-Bianthryl-Based Graphene Nanoribbons Grown on Cu(111). , 2016, ACS nano.

[22]  A. G. S. Filho,et al.  Physical properties of low-dimensional s p 2 -based carbon nanostructures , 2016 .

[23]  A. Ferretti,et al.  Electronic Structure Evolution during the Growth of Graphene Nanoribbons on Au(110) , 2016, 1704.06373.

[24]  J. Björk,et al.  Reaction mechanisms for on-surface synthesis of covalent nanostructures , 2016, Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal.

[25]  Kenichiro Itami,et al.  Structurally uniform and atomically precise carbon nanostructures , 2016 .

[26]  Ari Harju,et al.  Ultra-narrow metallic armchair graphene nanoribbons , 2015, Nature Communications.

[27]  K. Müllen,et al.  New advances in nanographene chemistry. , 2015, Chemical Society reviews.

[28]  Lei Dong,et al.  Surface-Activated Coupling Reactions Confined on a Surface. , 2015, Accounts of chemical research.

[29]  Junfa Zhu,et al.  Surface-catalyzed C-C covalent coupling strategies toward the synthesis of low-dimensional carbon-based nanostructures. , 2015, Accounts of chemical research.

[30]  S. Kawai,et al.  Resolving Atomic Connectivity in Graphene Nanostructure Junctions. , 2015, Nano letters.

[31]  K. Sun,et al.  On-surface synthesis of rylene-type graphene nanoribbons. , 2015, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[32]  A. Ferretti,et al.  Surface-Assisted Reactions toward Formation of Graphene Nanoribbons on Au(110) Surface , 2015 .

[33]  C. Bronner,et al.  Tracking and Removing Br during the On-Surface Synthesis of a Graphene Nanoribbon , 2015 .

[34]  A. Ferretti,et al.  Probing the mechanism for graphene nanoribbon formation on gold surfaces through X-ray spectroscopy , 2014 .

[35]  P. Szabelski,et al.  On-surface Ullmann coupling: the influence of kinetic reaction parameters on the morphology and quality of covalent networks. , 2014, ACS nano.

[36]  P. Weiss,et al.  Bottom-up graphene-nanoribbon fabrication reveals chiral edges and enantioselectivity. , 2014, ACS nano.

[37]  Martin Wolf,et al.  Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Graphene Nanoribbons on Au(111) , 2014 .

[38]  F. Hanke,et al.  Towards design rules for covalent nanostructures on metal surfaces. , 2014, Chemistry.

[39]  Haiying Yang,et al.  Influence of doped nitrogen and vacancy defects on the thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons , 2013, Journal of Molecular Modeling.

[40]  P. Liljeroth,et al.  Suppression of electron–vibron coupling in graphene nanoribbons contacted via a single atom , 2013, Nature Communications.

[41]  P. Liljeroth,et al.  Electronic states in finite graphene nanoribbons: Effect of charging and defects , 2013, 1306.2723.

[42]  A. Neto,et al.  Spatially Resolved Electronic Structures of Atomically Precise Armchair Graphene Nanoribbons , 2012, Scientific Reports.

[43]  Lei Shen,et al.  Electron transmission modes in electrically biased graphene nanoribbons and their effects on device performance , 2012 .

[44]  C. Pignedoli,et al.  Intraribbon heterojunction formation in ultranarrow graphene nanoribbons. , 2012, ACS nano.

[45]  F. Hanke,et al.  Zipping up: cooperativity drives the synthesis of graphene nanoribbons. , 2011, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[46]  J. Martín-Gago,et al.  On-surface synthesis of cyclic organic molecules. , 2011, Chemical Society reviews.

[47]  A. Seitsonen,et al.  Atomically precise bottom-up fabrication of graphene nanoribbons , 2010, Nature.

[48]  Peter Liljeroth,et al.  Amplifying the Pacific Climate System Response to a Small 11-Year Solar Cycle Forcing , 2009, Science.

[49]  M. Persson,et al.  Nano-architectures by covalent assembly of molecular building blocks. , 2007, Nature nanotechnology.

[50]  M. Wahl,et al.  Controlling molecular assembly in two dimensions: the concentration dependence of thermally induced 2D aggregation of molecules on a metal surface. , 2005, Angewandte Chemie.