Interplay of boundary states of graphene nanoribbons with a Kondo impurity

Abstract

We investigate the interplay of two highly localized, nearly degenerate electronic states, namely, a zero-energy edge mode in a graphene nanoribbon on the one hand and an Abrikosov-Suhl resonance located at a Kondo impurity on the other. On-surface synthesis of the ribbon structures in combination with intercalation of single-atom Kondo impurities by atomic manipulation in a scanning tunneling microscope junction offer full control of the atomic geometry of the system. Density functional theory provides the microscopic description to scrutinize the electronic features observed in experiment. We find the interaction of the two localized states and the resulting signatures of Kondo physics to be very sensitive to the placing of the atom, suggesting its use as a laboratory to study the interplay of the Kondo effect with other zero-bias anomalies as well as to tailor these states by controlling the atomic-scale coupling.