Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.137, No.12, 4022-4025, 2015
On-Surface Synthesis of Rylene-Type Graphene Nanoribbons
The narrowest armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR) with five carbons across the width of the GNR (5-AGNR) was synthesized on Au(111) surfaces via sequential dehalogenation processes in a mild condition by using 1,4,5,8-tetrabromonaphthalene as the molecular precursor. Gold-organic hybrids were observed by using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and considered as intermediate states upon AGNR formation. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals an unexpectedly large band gap of Delta = 2.8 +/- 0.1 eV on Au(111) surface which can be interpreted by the hybridization of the surface states and the molecular states of the 5-AGNR.