Fano Factor in Strained Graphene Nanoribbon Nanodevices

We investigate the Fano factor in a strained armchair and zigzag graphene nanoribbon nanodevice under the effect of ac fheld in a wide range of frequencies at different temperatures(10 K-70 K). This nanodevice is modeled as follows: a graphene nanoribbon is connected to two metallic leads. These two metallic leads operate as a source and a drain. The conducting substance is the gate electrode in this three-terminal nanodevice. Another metallic gate is used to govern the electrostatics and the switching of the graphene nanoribbon channel. The substances at the graphene nanoribbon/metal contact are controlled by the back gate. The photon-assisted tunneling probability is deduced by solving the Dirac eigenvalue differential equation in which the Fano factor is expressed in terms of this tunneling probability. The results show that for the investigated nanodevice, the Fano factor decreases as the frequency of the induced ac fheld increases, while it increases as the temperature increases.In general, the Fano factors for both strained armchair and zigzag graphene nanoribbons are different. This is due to the effect of the uniaxial strain. It is shown that the band structure parameters of graphene nanoribbons at the energy gap, the C-C bond length, the hopping integral, the Fermi energy and the width are modulated by uniaxial strain. This research gives us a promise of the present nanodevice being used for digital nanoelectronics and sensors.     

Fano Resonance Effect in CO-Adsorbed Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbons

Quantum interference plays an important role in tuning the transport property of nano-devices. Using the non-equilibrium Green's Function method in combination with density functional theory, we investigate the influence to the transport property of a CO molecule adsorbed on one edge of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon device. Our results show that the CO molecule-adsorbed zigzag graphene nanoribbon devices can exhibit the Fano resonance phenomenon. Moreover, the distance between CO molecules and zigzag graphene nanoribbons is closely related to the energy sites of the Fano resonance. Our theoretical analyses indicate that the Fano resonance would be attributed to the interaction between CO molecules and the edge of the zigzag graphene nanoribbon device, which results in the localization of electrons and significantly changes the transmission spectrum.     

Shot noise in magnetic field modulated graphene superlattice

We investigate the shot noise properties in a monolayer graphene superlattice modulated by N parallel ferromagnets deposited on a dielectric layer. It is found that for the antiparallel magnetization configuration or when magnetic field is zero the new Dirac-like point appears in graphene superlattice. The transport is almost forbidden at this new Dirac-like point, and the Fano factor reaches its maximum value 1/3. In the parallel magnetization configuration as the number of magnetic barriers increases, the shot noise increases. In this case, the transmission can be blocked by the magnetic–electric barrier and the Fano factor approaches 1, which is dramatically distinguishable from that in antiparallel alignment. The results may be helpful to control the electron transport in graphene-based electronic devices.     

Anisotropic elastic behaviour and one‐dimensional metal in phosphorene

Using first‐principles calculations, we investigate the mechanical and electronic properties of phosphorene nanosheets under tensile strains. It is found that phosphorene possesses a prominent anisotropic elasticity with the large anisotropic factor of 15.5. Along the armchair direction, the phosphorene sheet exhibits a high tensile ductility, characterized by a large elastic strain limit of 0.31. While in the zigzag direction, the critical strain of phosphorene is dictated by the phonon instability and the in‐plane soft mode occurs beyond the 0.22 strain. Under uniaxial strains, the band gaps of phosphorene can be modulated continuously, whose band features are also altered accordingly. A Dirac‐like band structure appears in phosphorene under adequate strains along the zigzag direction. More interestingly, these Dirac cones of phosphorene display evident anisotropy, which have high Fermi velocities up to (6 – 7) × 10⁵ m/s along the armchair direction but drop to zero along the zigzag direction. With such a characteristic, the strained phosphorene sheet acts as an intriguing one‐dimensional metal, which enables the system many potential applications in power‐efficient and ultrafast nanodevices. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Anomalous strain effect on the thermal conductivity of borophene: a reactive molecular dynamics study

Borophene, an atomically thin, corrugated, crystalline two-dimensional boron sheet, has been recently synthesized. Here we investigate mechanical properties and lattice thermal conductivity of borophene using reactive molecular dynamics simulations. We performed uniaxial tensile strain simulations at room temperature along in-plane directions, and found 2D elastic moduli of 188 N m⁻¹ and 403 N m⁻¹ along zigzag and armchair directions, respectively. This anisotropy is attributed to the buckling of the borophene structure along the zigzag direction. We also performed non-equilibrium molecular dynamics to calculate the lattice thermal conductivity. Considering its size-dependence, we predict room-temperature lattice thermal conductivities of 75.9 ± 5.0 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ and 147 ± 7.3 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively, and estimate effective phonon mean free paths of 16.7 ± 1.7 nm and 21.4 ± 1.0 nm for the zigzag and armchair directions. In this case, the anisotropy is attributed to differences in the density of states of low-frequency phonons, with lower group velocities and possibly shorten phonon lifetimes along the zigzag direction. We also observe that when borophene is strained along the armchair direction there is a significant increase in thermal conductivity along that direction. Meanwhile, when the sample is strained along the zigzag direction there is a much smaller increase in thermal conductivity along that direction. For a strain of 8% along the armchair direction the thermal conductivity increases by a factor of 3.5 (250%), whereas for the same amount of strain along the zigzag direction the increase is only by a factor of 1.2 (20%). Our predictions are in agreement with recent first principles results, at a fraction of the computational cost. The simulations shall serve as a guide for experiments concerning mechanical and thermal properties of borophene and related 2D materials.     

Electronic structure and optic absorption of phosphorene under strain

We studied the electronic structure and optic absorption of phosphorene (monolayer of black phosphorus) under strain. Strain was found to be a powerful tool for the band structure engineering. The in-plane strain in armchair or zigzag direction changes the effective mass components along both directions, while the vertical strain only has significant effect on the effective mass in the armchair direction. The band gap is narrowed by compressive in-plane strain and tensile vertical strain. Under certain strain configurations, the gap is closed and the energy band evolves to the semi-Dirac type: the dispersion is linear in the armchair direction and is gapless quadratic in the zigzag direction. The band-edge optic absorption is completely polarized along the armchair direction, and the polarization rate is reduced when the photon energy increases. Strain not only changes the absorption edge (the smallest photon energy for electron transition), but also the absorption polarization.     

Fano Resonances for Tilted Linear and Quadratic Band Touching Dispersions in a Harmonically Driven Potential Well

Considering models with tilted linear and quadratic band touching dispersions, the effect of the transverse linear tilt on the transmission spectra is analyzed through a harmonically driven potential well oriented longitudinally. Employing the Floquet scattering matrix formalism, Fano resonances are found as an outcome of matching between the Floquet sidebands and quasi-bound states, where the tilt renormalizes their energies and wave vectors. It is found that the Fano resonance energy decreases (increases) for linear (quadratic) band touchings as the magnitude of the transverse momentum increases, indicating a distinct signature of the underlying band dispersion in the transmission profile. The sign of the product of the transverse momentum and the tilt also determines the relative shift in the Fano resonance energy with respect to the untilted case for both band dispersions, suggesting a possible tunability of the Fano resonance for tilted systems. Importantly, the tilt strength can also be directly determined by measuring the Fano resonance energy as function of the transverse momenta direction. The shot noise spectra and their differential property are further studied where an inflection region and undulation, respectively, is found around the Fano resonance energy. Interestingly, differential shot noise and transmission spectra both qualitatively behave in a similar fashion and might thus serve as important observables for future experiments on driven solid-state systems.     

基于硅基光子器件的Fano共振研究进展

硅基光子技术的发展为新型微纳光学功能器件和片上系统提供了高可靠、高精度的实现手段.采用硅基光子技术构建的具有连续(准连续)模式微腔与离散模式的微腔耦合产生的Fano共振现象得到了广泛关注.Fano共振光谱在共振波长附近具有不对称且尖锐的谐振峰,传输光的强度在共振波长附近从0突变为1,该机制可显著提高硅基光开关、探测器、传感器,以及光非互易性全光信号处理的性能.本综述分析了Fano共振的一般数学表述,总结了当前硅基光子微腔耦合产生Fano共振的理论模型研究现状,讨论了不同类型硅光器件实现Fano共振的方法,比较各种方案优劣及适用场合,梳理了Fano共振在全光信号处理方面的应用研究情况.最后探讨存在的一些问题及未来可能的相关研究方向.     

应变对二维蜂巢晶格光子晶体能带结构的影响

基于平面波法,本论文对应变引起的二维蜂巢晶格光子晶体的能带结构进行了数值计算。选取的两个方向分别是锯齿型边界(zigzag)方向和扶手椅型边界(armchair)方向,在这两个典型方向上对二维蜂巢晶格进行了正负各20%的单轴应变。由于应变导致的对称性破缺,能带结构会有显著的变化。在沿锯齿型边界方向上,TE模带隙随着晶格被拉伸逐渐减小,TM模带隙在应变量大于16%时消失。对于沿扶手椅型边界方向,TE模带隙在压缩15%以上时逐渐减小,在其他应变量的情况下几乎保持不变;TM模带隙在应变量大于18%时消失。这些结果对于完善应力工程和设计二维光子晶体器件有重要的指导意义。     

Spin-dependent delay time and Hartman effect in asymmetrical graphene barrier under strain

We study the spin-dependent tunneling time, including group delay and dwell time, in a graphene based asymmetrical barrier with Rashba spin–orbit interaction in the presence of strain, sandwiched between two normal leads. We find that the spin-dependent tunneling time can be efficiently tuned by the barrier width, and the bias voltage. Moreover, for the zigzag direction strain although the oscillation period of the dwell time does not change, the oscillation amplitude increases by increasing the incident electron angle. It is found that for the armchair direction strain unlike the zigzag direction the group delay time at the normal incidence depends on the spin state of electrons and Hartman effect can be observed. In addition, for the armchair direction strain the spin polarization increases with increasing the RSOI strength and the bias voltage. The magnitude and sign of spin polarization can be manipulated by strain. In particular, by applying an external electric field the efficiency of the spin polarization is improved significantly in strained graphene, and a fully spin-polarized current is generated.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of compression of single-layer graphene

The compression of a single-layer graphene sheet in the “zigzag” and “armchair” directions has been investigated using the molecular dynamics method. The distributions of the xy and yx stress components are calculated for atomic chains forming the graphene sheet. A graphene sheet stands significant compressive stresses in the “zigzag” direction and retains its integrity even at a strain of ～0.35. At the same time, the stresses which accompany the compressive deformation of single-layer graphene in the “armchair” direction are more than an order in magnitude lower than corresponding characteristics for the “zigzag” direction. A compressive strain of ～0.35 in the “armchair” direction fractures the graphene sheet into two parts.     

基于六角格子光子晶体波导的高效全光二极管设计

提出了一种基于六角格子光子晶体波导微腔和Fabry-Perot(FP)腔非对称耦合的全光二极管结构, 它由一个包含非线性Kerr介质的高Q值微腔与一个光子晶体波导中的FP腔组成. 通过有限时域差分方法对其传输特性进行了仿真, 发现通过两腔的非对称耦合可以实现在特定光强度下的正向传输、反向截止的功能. 在靠近微腔方向光入射时, 特定强度的光可以激发非线性微腔的Kerr效应, 改变了Fano腔的共振频率, 从而变成透射状态. 而远离微腔方向光入射, 由于这个不对称的结构造成场局域的分布不对称, 激发微腔Kerr效应的光强还不够, 所以光不能透射. 所设计的全光二极管结构具有良好的性能参数: 最大透射率高和高透射比、光强阈值低和易于集成等.     

First-principles study on electron transport through BN-dimer embedded zigzag carbon nanotubes

First-principles calculations are performed for electron transmission through a metallic zigzag carbon nanotube with substitutional BN dimers parallel to the nanotube axis. The transmission coefficient is calculated in the energy range (around the charge neutrality point) in which there exist two degenerate subbands for each spin. Wave functions in the circumferential direction of one of the degenerate subbands can be chosen so as to have nodes at the position of a carbon dimer parallel to the nanotube axis. It is shown that the transmission probability of an incident wave with such wave-function nodes depends crucially on positions of BN dimers relative to the nodes. By placing each of dimers at one of the nodes, the transmission probability is substantially enhanced and is well described by the Born approximation in spite of spatially extended scattering potential due to ionized B and N. This suggests that the arrangement in the circumferential direction of various impurities influences transport through metallic zigzag carbon nanotubes.     

Spin-dependent shot noise in diluted-magnetic-semiconductor/ semiconductor heterostructures

We investigated the shot noise properties in the diluted-magnetic-semiconductor/semiconductor heterostructures, where the sp-d exchange interaction gives rise to a giant spin splitting when an external magnetic field is applied along the growth direction of the heterostructures. It is found that the noise becomes strongly spin-dependent and can be greatly modulated not only by the external magnetic and electric fields, but also by the structural configuration and geometric parameters. Both the spin-up and spin-down components of the noise spectral density can be greatly suppressed by the magnetic field. The Fano factor is notably sensitive to the transmission probabilities, which varies greatly with the spin-polarization, the external magnetic field, and the structural configuration.     

Anisotropy Engineering Edge Magnetism in Zigzag Honeycomb Nanoribbons

It has been demonstrated that the zigzag honeycomb nanoribbons exhibit an intriguing edge magnetism. Here the effect of the anisotropy on the edge magnetism in zigzag honeycomb nanoribbons is investigated using two kinds of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The anisotropy in zigzag honeycomb nanoribbons is characterized by the ratios of nearest-neighbor hopping integrals t_1 in one direction and t_2 in another direction. Considering the electron-electron correlation, it is shown that the edge ferromagnetism could be enhanced greatly as t_2/|t_1|increases from 1 to 3, which not only presents an avenue for the control of this magnetism but is also useful for exploring further novel magnetism in new nano-scale materials.     

Modulation of specific heat in graphene by uniaxial strain

The specific heat of uniaxially strained graphene was investigated in the present paper. A uniaxial strain can modulate specific heat depending on the amount and direction of the strain. Specific heat decreases with an increase in the amount of tension strain at a low temperature and increases with compression. Above 110 K, it varies as the amount of strain is reversed to that at a low temperature. These novel properties can be attributed to the strain-induced shift behavior of out-of-plane acoustic phonons, which is different from that of other phonons. When the strain shifts from zigzag to armchair direction, specific heat gradually decreases for a given temperature. However, the variation in specific heat with the strain direction is significantly less than that with the amount of strain. Further, the difference in specific heat between different strain directions decreases with an increase in temperature. This tunable specific heat may provide a new route for both the implementation of thermal memory and the thermal management of graphene nanoelectronic devices.     

Synergy and Redundancy in a Signaling Cascade with Different Feedback Mechanisms

Feedback plays an important role in various biological signal transmission systems. In this paper, a signaling cascade system(including three layers: input(S), intermediate(V), output(X) components) is employed to study the fluctuations and net synergy in information transmission, in which the V component is regulated by itself or the X component, and each feedback on V is either positive or negative. The Fano factor, the net synergy, and the signalto-noise ratio(SNR) of signaling cascade with the four possible feedback types are theoretically derived by using linear noise approximation of the master equation, and the ability of information transmission through the signaling cascade is characterized by using the partial information decomposition of information theory. It is found that the signaling cascade exhibits different responses to the four feedback mechanisms, which depend on the relationships between degradation rates of components. Our results not only clarify the dependence of the Fano factor, net synergy, and SNR on the feedback regulations with the varying of degradation rates of components, but also imply that living cells could utilize different feedback mechanisms to adapt to the external fluctuating environments.     

Synergy and Redundancy in a Signaling Cascade with Different Feedback Mechanisms

Feedback plays an important role in various biological signal transmission systems. In this paper, a signaling cascade system (including three layers:input (S), intermediate (V), output (X) components) is employed to study the fluctuations and net synergy in information transmission, in which the V component is regulated by itself or the X component, and each feedback on V is either positive or negative. The Fano factor, the net synergy, and the signalto-noise ratio (SNR) of signaling cascade with the four possible feedback types are theoretically derived by using linear noise approximation of the master equation, and the ability of information transmission through the signaling cascade is characterized by using the partial information decomposition of information theory. It is found that the signaling cascade exhibits different responses to the four feedback mechanisms, which depend on the relationships between degradation rates of components. Our results not only clarify the dependence of the Fano factor, net synergy, and SNR on the feedback regulations with the varying of degradation rates of components, but also imply that living cells could utilize different feedback mechanisms to adapt to the external fluctuating environments.     

Fano Resonance Enabled Infrared Nano-Imaging of Local Strain in Bilayer Graphene

Detection of local strain at the nanometer scale with high sensitivity remains challenging. Here we report near-field infrared nano-imaging of local strains in bilayer graphene by probing strain-induced shifts of phonon frequency.As a non-polar crystal, intrinsic bilayer graphene possesses little infrared response at its transverse optical phonon frequency. The reported optical detection of local strain is enabled by applying a vertical electrical field that breaks the symmetry of the two graphene layers and introduces finite electrical dipole moment to graphene phonon. The activated phonon further interacts with continuum electronic transitions, and generates a strong Fano resonance. The resulted Fano resonance features a very sharp near-field infrared scattering peak, which leads to an extraordinary sensitivity of ~0.002% for the strain detection. Our results demonstrate the first nano-scale near-field Fano resonance, provide a new way to probe local strains with high sensitivity in non-polar crystals,and open exciting possibilities for studying strain-induced rich phenomena.