In this work, we demonstrate the bottom-up on-surface synthesis of poly(para-dibenzo[bc,kl]-coronenylene) (PPDBC), a zigzag edge-encased analog of poly(para-phenylene) (PPP), and its lateral fusion into zigzag edge-extended graphene nanoribbons (zeeGNRs). Toward this end, we designed a dihalogenated di(meta-xylyl)anthracene monomer displaying strategic methyl groups at the substituted phenyl ring and investigated its applicability as precursor in the thermally induced surface-assisted polymerization and cyclodehydrogenation. The structure of the resulting zigzag edge-rich (70%) polymer PPDBC was unambiguously confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM). Remarkably, by further thermal treatment at 450 °C two and three aligned PPDBC chains can be laterally fused into expanded zeeGNRs, with a ribbon width of nine (N = 9) up to 17 (N = 17) carbon atoms. Moreover, the resulting zeeGNRs exhibit a high ratio of zigzag (67%) vs armchair (25%) edge segments and feature electronic band gaps as low as 0.9 eV according to gaps quasiparticle calculations.

Over the past decade, the bottom-up synthesis of structurally defined graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with various topologies has attracted significant attention due to the extraordinary optical, electronic, and magnetic properties of GNRs, rendering them suitable for a wide range of potential applications (e.g., nanoelectronics, spintronics, photodetectors, and hydrothermal conversion). Remarkable achievements have been made in GNR synthesis with tunable widths, edge structures, and tailor-made functional substitutions. In particular, GNRs with liquid-phase dispersibility have been achieved through the decoration of various functional substituents at the edges, providing opportunities for revealing unknown GNR physiochemical properties. Because of the promise of liquid-phase dispersible GNRs, this mini-review highlights recent advances in their synthetic strategies, physiochemical properties, and potential applications. In particular, deep insights into the dvantages and challenges of their syntheses and chemical methodologies are provided to encourage future endeavors and developments.

In memory of François Diederich. / Nanographenes (NGs) with open-shell character have gained intense attention due to their potential applications in future organic nanoelectronics and spintronics. Among them, NGs bearing a pair of parallel zigzag edges, such as acenes and periacenes (PAs) bestow unique (opto)electronic and magnetic properties owing to their localized non-bonding π-state. However, their reactive zigzag edges impart intrinsic instability, leading to the challenging synthesis. The recent development of synthetic strategies provided access to several π-extended PAs, which were considered unrealistic for decades. Notably, their laterally π-extended structures of zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons was realised via on-surface synthesis. However, synthesis of π-extended PAs in solution is still in its infancy, more intensive scientific efforts are needed to surpass the existing challenges regarding stability and solubility. This Review provides an overview of recent progress in the synthesis and characterization of PAs through a bottom-up synthetic strategy, including on-surface and solution-phase chemistry. In addition, views on existing challenges and the future prospects are also provided.

Einzelschichten von Graphen-Nanobänders (GNRs) wurden auf SiC(0001)-Substraten mit zwei unterschiedlichen Fehlschnitten bei Temperaturen von 1410 bis 1460 °C synthetisiert. Das GNR-Wachstum lässt sich bei niedriger Stufenkantenhöhe am besten durch eine exponentielle Wachstumsrate, welche mit der Energiebarriere für die Ausdiffusion von Si korreliert ist. Anderseits wird bei Substraten mit höheren Stufenkanten eine nicht-exponentielle Rate beobachtet, was mit der Bildung von mehrlagigen Graphen an den Stufenkanten in Verbindung gebracht wird. Die Sauerstoffinterkalation von epitaktischen GNRs mittels Ausglühen an Luft von Bändern wird als nächstes untersucht, welche auf unterschiedlichen SiC-Substraten gewachsen wurden. Neben der Umwandlung von monolagigem zu zweilagigem Graphen in der Nähe der Stufenkanten von SiC, führt die Sauerstoffinterkalation zusätzlich zu der Bildung einer Oxidschicht auf den Terrassen des Substrats, was die zweilagigen GNRs elektrisch isoliert voneinander zurücklässt. Die elektrische Charakterisierung der zweilagigen GNRs zeigten dass die Bänder durch die Behandlung mit Sauerstoff elektrisch voneinander entkoppelt sind. Eine robuste Lochkonzentration von etwa 1x10¹³ cm-² und Mobilitäten von bis zu 700 cm²/(Vs) wurden für die GNRs mit einer typischen Breite von 100 nm bei Raumtemperatur gemessen. Wohl definierte Mesastrukturen gebildet mittels Elektronenstrahllithographie auf SiC-Substraten, wurde zuletzt untersucht. Die Charakterisierung des Ladungsträgertransports von GNRs die auf den Seitenwänden der strukturierten Terrassen gewachsen wurden, zeigt eine Mobilität im Bereich von 1000 bis 2000 cm²/(Vs), welche für verschiedene Strukturen auf der gesamten Probe homogen ist, was die Reproduzierbarkeit dieses Herstellungsverfahrens hervorhebt, sowie dessen Potential für die Implementierung in zukünftigen Technologien, welche auf epitaktischgewachsenene GNRs basieren. / Monolayer graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) were synthesized on SiC(0001) substrates with two different miscut angles at temperatures ranging from 1410 to 1460 °C. The GNR growth in lower step heights is best described by an exponential growth rate, which is correlated with the energy barrier for Si out-diffusion. On the other hand, a non-exponential rate is observed for substrates with higher steps, which is associated with the formation of few-layer graphene on the step edges. Oxygen intercalation of epitaxial GNRs is investigated next by air annealing ribbons grown in different SiC(0001) substrates. Besides the conversion of monolayer into bilayer graphene near the step edges of SiC, the oxygen intercalation also leads to the formation of an oxide layer on the terraces of the substrate, leaving the bilayer GNRs electronically isolated from each other. Electrical characterization of bilayer GNRs reveals that the ribbons are electrically decoupled from the substrate by the oxygen treatment. A robust hole concentration of around 1x10¹³ cm-² and mobilities up to 700 cm²/(Vs) at room temperature are measured for GNRs whose typical width is 100 nm. Well defined mesa structures patterned by electron beam lithography on the surface of SiC substrates is lastly researched. Transport characterization of GNRs grown on the sidewalls of the patterned terraces shows a mobility in the range of 1000 – 2000 cm²/(Vs), which is homogeneous for various structures throughout the sample, indicating the reproducibility of this fabrication method and its potential for implementation in future technologies based on epitaxially grown GNRs.

Carbon-based conductors like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) have many properties, which make them relevant for potential electronic applications. Among them are high conductances and tunable band gap sizes. These properties make CNTs and GNRs useful in many circumstances, e.g. as channel material in transistors or transparent electrodes in solar cells. Plenty of literature can be found on the topic of single linear CNTs/GNRs. Some applications however require a large network of these conductors. In addition, a single conductor has only a small impact on the network conductance, which reduces the need to control the properties of each individual nanotube/-ribbon. This leads to networks being easier to apply. In this work, the conductance of large networks of GNRs is calculated using the quantum-transport formalism (QT). This has not been done before in literature. In order to apply QT to such a large amount of atoms, the recursive Green's function formalism is used. For this the networks are devided into subcells, which are represented by tight-binding matrices. Similar networks are also examined using two different nodal analysis (NA) approaches, where the nanoribbons are treated as ohmic conductors. For NA with one-dimensional conductors, major discrepancies are found in regards to the QT model. However, networks consisting of two-dimensional conductors (NA-2D) have many properties similar to the QT networks. A recipe to approximate the QT results with NA-2D is presented.:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Principles 2.1 Carbon-based Conductors 2.1.1 Structure and Properties 2.1.2 Networks 2.2 Tight-Binding Model 2.3 Quantum Transport 2.3.1 Introduction 2.3.2 Level Broadening 2.3.3 Current Flow 2.3.4 Transmission 2.4 Nodal Analysis 3. Implementation 3.1 Quantum Tranport 3.1.1 Network Generation 3.1.2 Density-Functional based Tight-Binding Method 3.1.3 Recursive Green's Function Algorithm 3.1.4 Conductance 3.2 Nodal Analysis 3.2.1 One-dimensional Conductors 3.2.2 Two-dimensional Conductors 4. Results 4.1 Quantum Transport 4.1.1 Band Structures and Fermi Energies 4.1.2 Ideal Transmission and Consistency Tests 4.1.3 Percolation 4.1.4 Transmission 4.1.5 Conductance 4.1.6 Power Law Scaling 4.1.7 Size Dependence and Confinement Effects 4.1.8 Calculation Time 4.2 Nodal Analysis 4.2.1 One-dimensional Conductors 4.2.2 Two-dimensional Conductors 4.2.3 Calculation Time 4.3 Approximating QT with NA 4.3.1 Optimal Parameters 4.3.2 Percolation 4.3.3 Conductance 4.3.4 Power Law Scaling 5. Conclusions / Graphenbasierte Leiter wie Kohlenstoff-Nanoröhrchen (engl. 'carbon nanotubes', CNTs) oder Graphen-Nanobänder (engl. 'graphene nanoribbons', GNRs) haben viele Eigenschaften, die sie für potenzielle elektronische Anwendungen interessant machen. Darunter sind hohe Leitfähigkeiten und einstellbare Bandlückengrößen. Dadurch sind CNTs und GNRs in vielen Bereichen nützlich, z.B. als Kanalmaterial in Transistoren oder als transparente Elektroden in Solarzellen. Es gibt viel Literatur über einzelne, lineare CNTs/GNRs. Einige Anwendungen benötigen jedoch ein großes Netzwerk dieser Leiter. Zusätzlich hat ein einzelner Leiter wenig Einfluss auf die Leitfähigkeit des Netzwerks, wodurch die Eigenschaften der einzelnen Nanoröhrchen/-streifen weniger streng kontrolliert werden müssen. Dies führt dazu, dass es einfacher ist Netzwerke zu nutzen. In dieser Arbeit wird die Leitfähigkeit von großen GNR-Netzwerken mittels Quantentransport (QT) berechnet. Dies wurde in der Literatur noch nicht getan. Um QT auf eine so große Menge an Atomen anzuwenden wird der rekursive Greenfunktions-Formalismus benutzt. Dazu werden die Netzwerke in Unterzellen unterteilt, die durch Tight-Binding-Matrizen dargestellt werden. Ähnliche Netzwerke werden auch mit zwei Versionen der Knotenanalyse (engl. 'nodal analysis', NA) untersucht, welche die Nanobänder wie ohmische Leiter behandelt. Die Ergebnisse der NA mit eindimensionalen Leitern weisen deutliche Unterschiede zu den mit QT erzielten Ergebnissen auf. Wenn jedoch zweidimensionale Leiter in NA verwendet werden (NA-2D) gibt es viele parallelen zu den QT Ergebnissen. Zuletzt wird ein Vorgehen präsentiert, mit dem QT Resultate durch NA-2D Rechnungen genähert werden können.:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Principles 2.1 Carbon-based Conductors 2.1.1 Structure and Properties 2.1.2 Networks 2.2 Tight-Binding Model 2.3 Quantum Transport 2.3.1 Introduction 2.3.2 Level Broadening 2.3.3 Current Flow 2.3.4 Transmission 2.4 Nodal Analysis 3. Implementation 3.1 Quantum Tranport 3.1.1 Network Generation 3.1.2 Density-Functional based Tight-Binding Method 3.1.3 Recursive Green's Function Algorithm 3.1.4 Conductance 3.2 Nodal Analysis 3.2.1 One-dimensional Conductors 3.2.2 Two-dimensional Conductors 4. Results 4.1 Quantum Transport 4.1.1 Band Structures and Fermi Energies 4.1.2 Ideal Transmission and Consistency Tests 4.1.3 Percolation 4.1.4 Transmission 4.1.5 Conductance 4.1.6 Power Law Scaling 4.1.7 Size Dependence and Confinement Effects 4.1.8 Calculation Time 4.2 Nodal Analysis 4.2.1 One-dimensional Conductors 4.2.2 Two-dimensional Conductors 4.2.3 Calculation Time 4.3 Approximating QT with NA 4.3.1 Optimal Parameters 4.3.2 Percolation 4.3.3 Conductance 4.3.4 Power Law Scaling 5. Conclusions