ON-SURFACE SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ATOMICALLY PRECISE CARBON NANOSTRUCTURES

Abstract

Carbon-based low-dimensional nanostructures exhibit different properties that are not present in bulk materials. Their tunable band gaps and peculiar electronic properties are recognized to offer great potential for next-generation electronic applications. On-surface synthesis appears to be a practical approach to generate carbon nanostructures at sub-10-nanometer level. It allows chemically designed precursors thermally evaporated onto the metal substrates and react under ultra-high vacuum (UHV), obtaining the products with atomic precision. In this thesis, p-extended [5]triangulene and one-dimensional metal-organic chains (1D-MOCs) were synthesized via different on-surface approaches, including thermal annealing, atomic manipulation and mechanical strain. The chemical structures and electronic properties of the carbon nanostructures were resolved by using the scanning probe microscope (SPM) techniques, and the results were bolstered by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Furthermore, the structural evolutions of the nanostructures were comprehensively studied. The findings in this thesis will enrich the toolbox of on-surface synthesis of novel quantum nanostructures.