Nitrogen-Doped Graphitic Nanoribbons: Synthesis, Characterization and Transport
Nitrogen-doped graphitic nanoribbons (Nx-GNRs), synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using pyrazine as a nitrogen precursor, are reported for the first time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveal that the synthesized materials are formed by multi-layered corrugated graphitic nanoribbons (GNRs) which in most cases exhibit the formation of curved graphene edges (loops). This suggests that during growth, nitrogen atoms promote loop formation; undoped GNRs do not form loops at their edges. Transport measurements on individual pure carbon GNRs exhibit a linear I-V (current-voltage) behavior, whereas Nx-GNRs show reduced current responses following a semiconducting-like behavior, which becomes more prominent for high nitrogen concentrations. To better understand the experimental findings, electron density of states (DOS), quantum conductance for nitrogen doped zigzag and armchair single-layer GNRs are calculated for different N doping concentrations using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green functions. These calculations confirm the crucial role of nitrogen atoms in the transport properties, confirming that the nonlinear I-V curves are due to the presence of nitrogen atoms within the Nx-GNRs lattice that act as scattering sites. These characteristic Nx-GNRs transport could be advantageous in the fabrication of electronic devices including sensors in which metal-like undoped GNRs are unsuitable.