Ballistic tracks in graphene nanoribbons.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30356162.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06940-5 and PMC identifier 6200825.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
High quality graphene nanoribbons epitaxially grown on the sidewalls of silicon carbide (SiC) mesa structures stand as key building blocks for graphene-based nanoelectronics. Such ribbons display 1D single-channel ballistic transport at room temperature with exceptionally long mean free paths. Here, using spatially-resolved two-point probe (2PP) measurements, we selectively access and directly image a range of individual transport modes in sidewall ribbons. The signature of the independently contacted channels is a sequence of quantised conductance plateaus for different probe positions. These result from an interplay between edge magnetism and asymmetric terminations at opposite ribbon edges due to the underlying SiC structure morphology. Our findings demonstrate a precise control of transport through multiple, independent, ballistic tracks in graphene-based devices, opening intriguing pathways for quantum information device concepts.