Graphene nanoribbons can be viewed as one-dimensional slices of graphene, whose edges are passivated with hydrogen. They share many of the outstanding properties of graphene as robustness and high conductivity. But in contrast with graphene, they present an electronic gap, which  is tunable with atomic-scale variation of the size and shape of the GNR. The optical properties of GNRs have gathered a large interest due to the promise of being tunable, bright, and modular sources. However, experimental observations of these phenomena are scarce. We aim to synthesize GNRs with specific emission properties, characterize them with scanning probe techniques, and integrate them into model optoelectronic devices.

Our goal is to investigate the optical properties of graphene nanoribbons, specifically their light emission characteristics. To achieve this, we will (i) synthesize GNRs with different sizes and shapes to tune their emission properties (brightness, frequency, bandwidth), (i) create localized emitting centers by engineering specific edge extensions in the GNR backbone, and (iii) probe GNR emission properties in model optoelectronic devices.