Reducing disorder in graphene nanoribbons by chemical edge modification

We present electronic transport measurements on etched graphene nanoribbons on silicon dioxide before and after a short hydrofluoric acid (HF) treatment. We report on changes in the transport properties, in particular, in terms of a decreasing transport gap and a reduced doping level after HF dipping. Interestingly, the effective energy gap is nearly unaffected by the HF treatment. Additional measurements on a graphene nanoribbon with lateral graphene gates support strong indications that the HF significantly modifies the edges of the investigated nanoribbons leading to a significantly reduced disorder potential in these graphene nanostructures.