Graphene Nanoribbons: From fume hood to transistor

This thesis describes the work on the fabrication and characterization of graphene nanoribbons, spanning the range from organic synthesis in the chemistry lab (the fume hood) to advanced measurements on electronic components comprised of single graphene nanoribbons (the transistor). A broad spectrum of subjects is presented, among which solution-based chemistry, on-surface synthesis, the formation mechanism of nanographenes, scanning probe microscopy, electronic structure calculations and conductance measurements. This thesis describes work both on elucidating formation mechanisms of graphene nanostructures as well as measurements of their electronic properties. The interplay between the geometric and electronic structure is examined and exploited by synthesizing ribbons of different widths and edge structures. The resulting structures, both pristine nanoribbons and segmented, heterojunction-type nanoribbons are subjected to extensive scanning tunneling spectroscopy and conductance measurements, and a marinade of theoretical calculations is added to top it all off.