Observations of two-fold shell filling and Kondo effect in a graphene nano-ribbon quantum dot device

Abstract

A graphene nanoribbon (GNR) with orientation along its principle axis was obtained through a mechanical tearing process, and a quantum dot device was fabricated from the GNR. We have studied the transport property of the GNR quantum dot device down to dilution refrigerator temperatures. Two-fold charging periodicity was observed in the Coulomb-blockade measurement, signaling a shell-filling process with broken valley degeneracy. In one of the smaller Coulomb diamonds, Kondo-like resonance were observed, with two conductance peaks displaced symmetrically from the zero bias voltage. The splitting of Kondo resonance at zero magnetic field suggests spin-polarization of the quantum dot, possibly due to the edge states of a zigzag GNR.