Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 10, 2025

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Signatures of magnetism in zigzag graphene nanoribbons embedded in a hexagonal boron nitride lattice
Chengxin Jiang1, Hui Shan Wang2,3,4, Chenxi Liu1,5
1State Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Zigzag edges of graphene are predicted to host magnetic electronic states, critical for spintronics, but an experimental confirmation of these magnetic conduction channels remains elusive. Here we report the signatures of magnetism in zigzag graphene nanoribbons (zGNRs) embedded in hexagonal boron nitride. Hexagonal boron nitride provides crucial edge stabilization, enabling the direct probing of this intrinsic magnetism. Scanning nitrogen-vacancy-centre microscopy initially confirmed magnetism in zGNR. Subsequently, an ~9-nm-wide zGNR transistor was fabricated with a sub-50-nm channel length. Magnetotransport measurements at 4 K revealed distinct Fabry-Pérot-like interference patterns, indicating coherent transport. A large, anisotropic magnetoresistance (~175 Ω, ~1.3%) was observed, persisting well above room temperature. These findings strongly corroborate the existence of robust magnetic ordering in the zGNR edge state. This hexagonal-boron-nitride-embedded zGNR system offers an effective platform for future graphene-based spintronic devices.
Related Concept Videos
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
Ferromagnetism
Valence Bond Theory
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets....
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Magnetic Moment
Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals I

