Production of Magnetic Arsenic-Phosphorus Alloy Nanoribbons with Small Band Gaps and High Hole Conductivities

Quasi-1D nanoribbons provide a unique route to diversifying the properties of their parent 2D nanomaterial, introducing lateral quantum confinement and an abundance of edge sites. Here, a new family of nanomaterials is opened with the creation of arsenic-phosphorus alloy nanoribbons (AsPNRs). By ionically scissoring the layered crystal black arsenic-phosphorus using lithium electride followed by dissolution in amidic solvents, solutions of AsPNRs are formed. The ribbons are typically few-layered, several microns long with widths tens of nanometers across, and both highly flexible and crystalline. The AsPNRs are highly electrically conducting above 130 K due to their small band gap (ca. 0.035 eV), paramagnetic, and have high hole mobilities, as measured with the first generation of AsP devices, directly highlighting their properties and utility in electronic devices