Carbon nano-ribbons and their edge phonons

Well-defined carbon nano-ribbons with a honeycomb structure have been grown on a TiC (755) surface. The width between two armchair edges is ∼1.3 nm and the length is a macroscopic scale. The phonon modes and the electronic π bands of the carbon nano-ribbons were quantized, which is a characteristic feature of the ribbons with nano-scale widths. Additionally, we have detected the transverse optical edge phonons, of which the vibrational amplitudes are localized at the armchair edge sites.