Magnetically and optically active edges in phosphorene nanoribbons.
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Springer Nature
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08563-x
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08563-x
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Acknowledgements: R.P. and A.A. thank R. P. Cowburn (University of Cambridge) for critical reading of the text and assistance with interpretation of the SQUID data, S. S. Rao (University of Texas at El Paso) and S. V. Bhat (Indian Institute of Science) for discussion of the EPR signals, and M. J. Cliffe (University of Nottingham), C. Liu (University of Cambridge) and S. Dutton (University of Cambridge) for discussion about and assistance with analysis of the SQUID data. We also thank T. Barisein, L. Legrand and V. Guilloux (Sorbonne Université) for performing the low-temperature steady-state and time-resolved emission measurements. We thank H. Sirringhaus (University of Cambridge) for use of temperature-dependent Raman and absorption spectroscopy facilities. R.P. and A.A. thank A. Rao (University of Cambridge) for invaluable support and overall guidance with the work. A.A. acknowledges funding from the Gates Cambridge Trust as well as support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability including support for a ‘Cambridge-Berkley Exchange’. A.J.C acknowledges funding from The Royal Society for funding through the University Research Fellowship scheme (URF\R1\221476, RF\ERE\221017). T.J.M. thanks the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 for their financial support through a Research Fellowship. T.J.M. acknowledges funding from a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF/R1/221834) and the Royal Society Research Fellows Enhanced Research Expenses (RF/ERE/221066). S.F. acknowledges funding from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC UK) through an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship. R.P. acknowledges Clare College, Cambridge for funding through a Junior Research Fellowship. C.A.H., R.R.C.S. and E.S.Y.A. acknowledge support from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Materials Characterisation (grant no. EP/S023259/1) for PhD studentships. We acknowledge financial support from the EPSRC through grant nos. EP/M006360/1 and EP/W017091/1 and the Winton Program for the Physics of Sustainability. This work was supported by HFML-RU/NWO-I, member(s) of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL) and by EPSRC (UK) through its membership to the EMFL (grant no. EP/N01085X/1).
Nanoribbons, nanometre-wide strips of a two-dimensional material, are a unique system in condensed matter. They combine the exotic electronic structures of low-dimensional materials with an enhanced number of exposed edges, where phenomena including ultralong spin coherence times1,2, quantum confinement3 and topologically protected states4,5 can emerge. An exciting prospect for this material concept is the potential for both a tunable semiconducting electronic structure and magnetism along the nanoribbon edge, a key property for spin-based electronics such as (low-energy) non-volatile transistors6. Here we report the magnetic and semiconducting properties of phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs). We demonstrate that at room temperature, films of PNRs show macroscopic magnetic properties arising from their edge, with internal fields of roughly 240 to 850 mT. In solution, a giant magnetic anisotropy enables the alignment of PNRs at sub-1-T fields. By leveraging this alignment effect, we discover that on photoexcitation, energy is rapidly funnelled to a state that is localized to the magnetic edge and coupled to a symmetry-forbidden edge phonon mode. Our results establish PNRs as a fascinating system for studying the interplay between magnetism and semiconducting ground states at room temperature and provide a stepping-stone towards using low-dimensional nanomaterials in quantum electronics.
Nanoribbons, nanometre-wide strips of a two-dimensional material, are a unique system in condensed matter. They combine the exotic electronic structures of low-dimensional materials with an enhanced number of exposed edges, where phenomena including ultralong spin coherence times1,2, quantum confinement3 and topologically protected states4,5 can emerge. An exciting prospect for this material concept is the potential for both a tunable semiconducting electronic structure and magnetism along the nanoribbon edge, a key property for spin-based electronics such as (low-energy) non-volatile transistors6. Here we report the magnetic and semiconducting properties of phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs). We demonstrate that at room temperature, films of PNRs show macroscopic magnetic properties arising from their edge, with internal fields of roughly 240 to 850 mT. In solution, a giant magnetic anisotropy enables the alignment of PNRs at sub-1-T fields. By leveraging this alignment effect, we discover that on photoexcitation, energy is rapidly funnelled to a state that is localized to the magnetic edge and coupled to a symmetry-forbidden edge phonon mode. Our results establish PNRs as a fascinating system for studying the interplay between magnetism and semiconducting ground states at room temperature and provide a stepping-stone towards using low-dimensional nanomaterials in quantum electronics.