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Single molecule chemistry leveraging scanning probe tip-based atom manipulation is used to create cyclic C6, a previously elusive carbon nanoring, shedding new light on the stability, structure and electronic properties of low-dimensional carbon allotropes.

Open-shell nanographenes are used to fabricate length-controlled antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains. It is revealed that the spin excitation spectra evolve from gapped to gapless following a power-law dependence on chain length, along with the visualization of the standing waves of confined single spinons.

The zigzag edges of graphene host edge-localized electronic states with aligned electron spins, but these states strongly interact with metallic substrates. Here, the authors measure the electronic structure of graphene nanoribbons after transferring them to an insulating support.

Graphene nanoribbons show promise for high-performance field-effect transistors, however they often suffer from short lengths and wide band gaps. Here, the authors use a bottom-up synthesis approach to fabricate 9- and 13-atom wide ribbons, enabling short-channel transistors with 10⁵ on-off current ratio.

Scanning probe microscopy experiments realize the alternating-exchange spin-1/2 Heisenberg model via magnetic nanographene chains. They control odd- to even-Haldane phase transitions and monitor spin–spin correlations and triplon dispersion.

Twisted 2D materials have recently emerged as a controllable quantum simulator platform. Here, the authors apply the same approach to tune the edge states of zigzag graphene nanoribbons, showing a unique degree of freedom represented by the lateral stacking offset of the 1D nanostructures.

Graphene nanoribbons exhibit an electronic bandgap and optical response that can be tuned with the ribbon width. Here, using reflectance difference spectroscopy, Denk et al.investigate the exciton-dominated optical absorption of graphene nanoribbons and its dependence on the exact atomic structure.

Using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, fractional edge excitations are observed in nanographene spin chains, enabling the potential to study strongly correlated phases in purely organic materials.

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) have structure-dependent electronic properties that make them attractive for the fabrication of nanoscale electronic devices, but exploiting this potential has been hindered by the lack of precise production methods. Here the authors demonstrate how to reliably produce different GNRs, using precursor monomers that encode the structure of the targeted nanoribbon and are converted into GNRs by means of surface-assisted coupling.

p–n junctions are formed in heterostructures made of pristine and nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons.

Synthesis of atomically precise zigzag edges in graphene nanoribbons is demonstrated using a bottom-up strategy based on surface-assisted arrangement and reaction of precursor monomers; these nanoribbons have edge-localized states with large energy splittings.

On-surface synthesis relies on carefully designed molecular precursors that are thermally activated to afford desired, covalently coupled architectures. Here, the authors study the intramolecular reactions of vinyl groups in a poly-para-phenylene-based model system and provide a comprehensive description of the reaction steps taking place on the Au(111) surface under ultrahigh vacuum conditions.

The microscopic structure of quantum defects in 2D materials is crucial to understand their optical properties and spin-photon interface. Here, the authors report the direct imaging of charge state-dependent symmetry breaking of sulfur vacancies and rhenium dopants in 2D MoS₂, showing evidence of a Jahn-Teller effect.

Individual graphene nanoribbons synthesized by an on-surface approach can be contacted with carbon nanotubes—with diameters as small as 1 nm—and used to make multigate devices that exhibit quantum transport effects such as Coulomb blockade and single-electron tunnelling.

On-surface methods can be used to synthesize organic molecules, polymers and nanomaterials, however, the diversity of conceivable products is limited by the number of known on-surface reactions. Now, a phenylene ring-forming reaction on a gold surface by intermolecular oxidative coupling of isopropyl substituents on arenes is reported. The reaction is probed using bond-resolved imaging and computational modelling.

Heteroatom substitution in larger acenes represents a fundamental step towards precise engineering of the remarkable electronic properties of the acene family. Here, the authors present an on-surface synthesis strategy and detailed characterization for three undecacene analogs substituted with four nitrogen atoms.

Open-shell nanographenes are promising for quantum technologies, but their magnetic stability has remained limited by weak exchange coupling. Now, two large rhombus-shaped nanographenes with zigzag peripheries, one with 48 carbon atoms and the other with 70, have been synthesized on gold and copper surfaces. The 70-carbon compound exhibits a large magnetic exchange coupling exceeding 100 meV.

The presence of graphitic nitrogen atoms within graphene nanoribbons has been predicted to strongly affect their electronic properties, but its experimental formation within such structures remains challenging. Here, the authors report on the on-surface synthesis of pyridine-extended 7-armchair graphene nanoribbons on Au(111), whereby graphitic nitrogen is preferentially formed after complete planarization through the formation of C–N bonds.

Polyacetylene is an ideal system to probe to gain a better understanding of the nature of charge transport in conducting polymers. Now, individual atomically precise polyacetylene chains have been synthesized on a copper surface and characterized using a range of techniques, revealing a doping-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition.

Heteroatom doping of buckybowls is a viable route to tune their intrinsic physico-chemical properties, but their synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors report on a combined in-solution and on-surface synthetic strategy towards the fabrication of a buckybowl containing two fused nitrogen-doped pentagonal rings.

The synthesis of large acenes via traditional solution-chemistry routes is hindered by their poor solubility and high reactivity under ambient conditions. Here, the authors demonstrate the on-surface formation of large acenes, via visible-light-induced photo-dissociation of α-bisdiketone molecular precursors on an Au(111) substrate.

Topological frustration in the π-electron network of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon C₃₈H₁₈ yields unpaired electrons and a magnetically non-trivial ground state. Here, the authors synthesize this molecule, known as Clar’s goblet, on Au(111) and characterize the antiferromagnetic ground state with scanning tunnelling microscopy.

Graphene nanoribbons are used to design robust nanomaterials with controlled periodic coupling of topological boundary states to create quasi-one-dimensional trivial and non-trivial electronic quantum phases.

Present preparation methods fail to meet fully the demand for structurally pure single-walled carbon nanotubes; surface-catalysed cyclodehydrogenation reactions are now shown to convert precursor molecules deposited on a platinum(111) surface into ultrashort nanotube seeds that can then be grown further into defect-free and structurally pure single-walled carbon nanotubes of single chirality.