Atomically-Precise, Custom-Design Origami Graphene Nanostructures

Abstract

The construction of atomically-precise carbon nanostructures holds promise for developing novel materials for scientific study and nanotechnology applications. Here we show that graphene origami is an efficient way to convert graphene into atomically-precise, complex, and novel nanostructures. By scanning-tunneling-microscope manipulation at low temperature, we repeatedly fold and unfold graphene nanoislands (GNIs) along arbitrarily chosen direction. A bilayer graphene stack featuring a tunable twist angle and a tubular edge connection between the layers are formed. Folding single-crystal GNIs creates tubular edges with specified chirality and one-dimensional electronic features similar to those of carbon nanotubes, while folding bi-crystal GNIs creates well-defined intramolecular junctions. Both origami structural models and electronic band structures were computed to complement analysis of the experimental results. The present atomically-precise graphene origami provides a platform for constructing novel carbon nanostructures with engineered quantum properties and ultimately quantum machines.

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• Energy Gaps in Graphene Nanoribbons
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• Strain Induced One-Dimensional Landau-Level Quantization in Corrugated Graphene
• Gauge fields and interferometry in folded graphene
• Zero Landau level in folded graphene nanoribbons
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• Graphene-based Nanoscale version of da Vinci's Reciprocal Structures
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