Electronic and magnetic structure of graphene nanoribbons

This review covers some of the basic theoretical aspects of the electronic and magnetic structure of graphene nanoribbons, starting from the simplest tight-binding models to the more sophisticated ones where the electron–electron interactions are considered at various levels of approximation. Nanoribbons can be classified into two basic categories, armchair and zigzag, according to their edge termination, which determines profoundly their electronic structure. Magnetism, as a result of the interactions, appears in perfect zigzag ribbons as well as in armchair ribbons with vacancies and defects of different types.