Graphene Nanoribbons: It's All about the Edges

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

And these display a very promising feature. Electrons can spin either to the left or to the right, which is referred to as the internal spin of electrons. The special feature of the zigzag GNR is that, along each edge, the electrons all spin in the same direction; an effect which is referred to as ferro-magnetic coupling. At the same time, the so-called antiferromagnetic coupling ensures that the electrons on the other edge all spin in the opposite direction. So the electrons on one side all have a "spin-up" state and on the other edge they all have a "spin-down" state.

Thus, two independent spin-channels with opposite "directions of travel" arise on the band edges, like a road with separated lanes. Via intentionally integrated structural defects on the edges or - more elegantly - via the provision of an electrical, magnetic or optical signal from the outside, spin barriers and spin filters can thus be designed that require only energy in order to be switched on and off - the precursor to a nanoscale and also extremely energy efficient transistor.

Possibilities such as this make GNR extremely interesting for spintronic devices; these use both the charge and the spin of the electrons. This combination is prompting scientists to forecast completely new components, e.g. addressable magnetic data storage devices which maintain the information that has been fed in even after the power has been turned off.

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