Graphene nanoribbons show metallic properties

Researchers from Aalto University in Finland have developed graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) that exhibit metallic properties and could be used in future electronic devices.

GNRs have been suggested as ideal materials for nanoelectronics, where wiring is reduced to the atomic scale. The GNRs created by the team at Aalto, described in the journal Nature Communications Science, are just five carbon atoms wide and one atom thick. Unlike other GNRs, they are not semiconducting, which means they could potentially be used as metallic interconnects in future microprocessors.

The GNRs are fabricated through a chemical reaction that takes place on a substrate. According to Dr Pekka Joensuu, who oversaw the synthesis of the precursor molecules for the ribbons, different surface molecules can dictate the width of the graphene.

“The cool thing about the fabrication procedure is that the precursor molecule exactly determines the width of the ribbon,” he said. “If you want one-carbon-atom-wide ribbons, you simply have to pick a different molecule.”