How Structural Defects Affect the Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Single Molecular Wires

M Koch and Z Li and C Nacci and T Kumagai and I Franco and L Grill, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 121, 047701 (2018).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.047701

We report how individual defects affect single graphene nanoribbons by scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy pulling experiments simultaneously accessing their electrical and mechanical properties. The on-surface polymerization of the graphene nanoribbons is controlled by cooperative effects as theoretically suggested. Further, we find, with the help of atomistic simulations, that defects substantially vary the molecule-substrate coupling and drastically increase the flexibility of the graphene nanoribbons while keeping their desirable electronic properties intact.

Return to Publications page