Switching from reactant to substrate engineering in the selective synthesis of graphene nanoribbons
The challenge of synthesizing graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with atomic precision is currently being pursued along a one-way road, based on the synthesis of adequate molecular precursors that react in predefined ways through self-assembly processes. The synthetic options for GNR generation would multiply by adding a new direction to this readily successful approach, especially if both of them can be combined. We show here how GNR synthesis can be guided by an adequately nanotemplated substrate instead of by the traditionally designed reactants. The structural atomic precision, unachievable to date through top-down methods, is preserved by the self-assembly process. This new strategy's proof-of-concept compares experiments using 4,4′′-dibromo-para-terphenyl as a molecular precursor on flat Au(111) and stepped Au(322) substrates. As opposed to the former, the periodic steps of the latter drive the selective synthesis of 6 atom-wide armchair GNRs, whose electronic properties have been further characterized in detail by scanning tunneling spectroscopy, angle resolved photoemission, and density functional theory calculations. ; The project leading to this publication has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 635919), from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO, Grant No. MAT2016-78293-C6), from the Basque Government (Grant No. IT-621-13), from the regional Government of Aragon (RASMIA Project), and from the University of Padova (Grant CPDA154322, Project AMNES). ; Peer reviewed