Exciton-dominated optical response of ultra-narrow graphene nanoribbons

Richard Denk (), Michael Hohage, Peter Zeppenfeld, Jinming Cai, Carlo A. Pignedoli, Hajo Söde, Roman Fasel, Xinliang Feng, Klaus Müllen, Shudong Wang, Deborah Prezzi (), Andrea Ferretti, Alice Ruini, Elisa Molinari and Pascal Ruffieux ()
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Richard Denk: Institute of Experimental Physics, Johannes Kepler University
Michael Hohage: Institute of Experimental Physics, Johannes Kepler University
Peter Zeppenfeld: Institute of Experimental Physics, Johannes Kepler University
Jinming Cai: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Carlo A. Pignedoli: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Hajo Söde: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Roman Fasel: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Xinliang Feng: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Klaus Müllen: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Shudong Wang: CNR-Nanoscience Institute, S3 Center
Deborah Prezzi: CNR-Nanoscience Institute, S3 Center
Andrea Ferretti: CNR-Nanoscience Institute, S3 Center
Alice Ruini: CNR-Nanoscience Institute, S3 Center
Elisa Molinari: CNR-Nanoscience Institute, S3 Center
Pascal Ruffieux: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Narrow graphene nanoribbons exhibit substantial electronic bandgaps and optical properties fundamentally different from those of graphene. Unlike graphene—which shows a wavelength-independent absorbance for visible light—the electronic bandgap, and therefore the optical response, of graphene nanoribbons changes with ribbon width. Here we report on the optical properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons of width N=7 grown on metal surfaces. Reflectance difference spectroscopy in combination with ab initio calculations show that ultranarrow graphene nanoribbons have fully anisotropic optical properties dominated by excitonic effects that sensitively depend on the exact atomic structure. For N=7 armchair graphene nanoribbons, the optical response is dominated by absorption features at 2.1, 2.3 and 4.2 eV, in excellent agreement with ab initio calculations, which also reveal an absorbance of more than twice the one of graphene for linearly polarized light in the visible range of wavelengths.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5253

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