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Updated: Dec 8, 2025

Optimized Fabrication Procedure for High-Quality Graphene-based Moiré Superlattice Devices
Published on: July 11, 2025
Towards chirality control of graphene nanoribbons embedded in hexagonal boron nitride
Hui Shan Wang1,2,3, Lingxiu Chen1,3, Kenan Elibol4,5
1State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The integrated in-plane growth of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) could provide a promising route to achieve integrated circuitry of atomic thickness. However, fabrication of edge-specific GNRs in the lattice of h-BN still remains a significant challenge. Here we developed a two-step growth method and successfully achieved sub-5-nm-wide zigzag and armchair GNRs embedded in h-BN. Further transport measurements reveal that the sub-7-nm-wide zigzag GNRs exhibit openings of the bandgap inversely proportional to their width, while narrow armchair GNRs exhibit some fluctuation in the bandgap-width relationship. An obvious conductance peak is observed in the transfer curves of 8- to 10-nm-wide zigzag GNRs, while it is absent in most armchair GNRs. Zigzag GNRs exhibit a small magnetic conductance, while armchair GNRs have much higher magnetic conductance values. This integrated lateral growth of edge-specific GNRs in h-BN provides a promising route to achieve intricate nanoscale circuits.
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