Structure and electronic properties of native and defected gallium nitride nanotubes

Structure and electronic properties of GaN nanotubes (GaNNTs) are investigated by using ab initio density functional theory. By full optimization, the optimized structures (bond-lengths and angles between them) of zigzag GaNNTs (n,0) and armchair GaNNTs (n,n) (4<n<11) are calculated. The difference between nitrogen ring diameter and gallium ring diameter (buckling distance) and semiconducting energy gap in term of diameter for zigzag and armchair GaNNTs have also been calculated. We found that buckling distance decreases by increasing nanotube diameter. Furthermore, we have investigated the effects of nitrogen and gallium vacancies on structure and electronic properties of zigzag GaNNT (5,0) using spin dependent density functional theory. By calculating the formation energy, we found that N vacancy in GaNNT (5,0) is more favorable than Ga vacancy. The nitrogen vacancy in zigzag GaNNT induces a 1.0μB magnetization and makes a polarized structure. We have shown that in polarized GaNNT a flat band near the Fermi energy splits to occupied spin up and unoccupied spin down levels.     

Electromechanical buckling analysis of boron nitride nanotube using molecular dynamic simulation

In this paper, the effect of electric field on axial buckling of boron nitride nanotubes is investigated. For this purpose, molecular dynamics simulation and continuum mechanics are used for the first time simultaneously. In molecular dynamics simulation, the potential between boron nitride atoms is considered as Tersoff and Timoshenko beam theory is used in continuum mechanics. In this paper, buckling of zigzag and armchair boron nitride nanotubes are investigated. Here, the effects of the electric field and the length of the boron nitride nanotube on the critical load are investigated and it is shown that the effect of the electric field is different with respect to the arrangement of atoms in the boron nitride nanotubes. In fact, the electric field creates axial and torsional loads on the zigzag and armchair nanotube, respectively. Axial buckling of the zigzag nanotube is dependent on the electric field, whereas in the armchair nanotubes, the electric field changes have no effect on the axial buckling. To better understand the impact of the electric field on axial buckling, these results are compared with the continuum mechanics.     

Stability characteristics of single-layered silicon carbide nanosheets under uniaxial compression

The buckling behavior of single-layered silicon carbide nanosheets (SLSiCNSs) is investigated by employing an atomistic finite element model. Preserving the discrete nature of nanosheets, the beam elements are used to model the Si–C bounds. The effects of aspect ratio and boundary conditions on the stability of zigzag and armchair SLSiCNSs have been studied. Based on the results, it is observed that the buckling forces of small sheets are strongly size-dependent. However, the size-dependent behavior will diminish for larger sheets. Comparing the buckling force of armchair and zigzag nanosheets with same geometries and boundary conditions shows that the buckling force is independent of chirality.     

Effect of tubular chiralities of single-walled ZnO nanotubes on electronic transport

The electronic transport properties of single-walled ZnO nanotubes with different chiralities are investigated by nonequilibrium Green's function combined with density functional theory. In this paper we consider three representative ZnO nanotubes, namely (3, 3) armchair, (5, 0) zigzag, and (4, 2) chiral, with a similar diameter of about 5.4 Å. Short nanotubes exhibit good conductance behavior. As the tube length increases, the conductance decreases at low bias and the nanotubes indicate semiconducting behavior. The current-voltage characteristics of the nanotubes longer than 3 nm depend weakly on the length of the tubes. The armchair and chiral ZnO nanotubes with the same length and diameter have almost overlapped current-voltage curves. The electron transport behaviors are analyzed in terms of the transmission spectra, density of states and charge population of these nanotubes. The results indicate that the resonant peaks above the Fermi level are responsible for electric currents. However, the zigzag ZnO nanotubes exhibit asymmetric current-voltage curves attributed to the built-in polarization field and give larger current than the armchair and chiral nanotubes at the same bias. The features explored here strongly suggest that the ZnO nanotubes are stable, flexible structures, which are valuable in Nano-Electromechanical System.     

形变碳纳米管场效应晶体管的电学性质

在紧束缚理论的基础上,推导出轴向拉伸和扭转形变时碳纳米管（CNT）的能带公式.结果显示拉伸和扭转形变都可以改变CNT的导电性质,在金属型和半导体型之间转变,特别是对于锯齿型CNT,根据n 与3的余数关系,在拉伸和扭转中分别显示出三种不同的变化规律.进一步应用场效应晶体管Natori理论模拟计算形变对CNT场效应晶体管的电流-电压特性的影响,锯齿型CNT根据n 与3的余数关系表现出不同的电流变化趋势,而对于扶手椅型CNT轴向拉伸不改变电流;在扭转形变时,CNT电流急剧升高,特别是扶手椅型CNT.锯齿型CNT和扶手椅型CNT的电流随扭转角度和外电压行为明显不同.在某些特定的扭转角度,电流随扭转角度变化非常显著,显示出锯齿型CNT和扶手椅型CNT发生半导体型与金属型之间的转变. 关键词： 碳纳米管 紧束缚理论 费米能级 能带结构     

Electro-optical properties of zigzag and armchair boron nitride nanotubes under a transverse electric field: Tight binding calculations

The electro-optical properties of zigzag and armchair BNNTs in a uniform transverse electric field are investigated within tight binding approximation. It is found that the electric field modifies the band structure and splits band degeneracy where these effects reflect in the DOS and JDOS spectra. A decrease in the band gap, as a function of the electric field, is observed. This gap reduction increases with the diameter and it is independent of chirality. An analytic function to estimate the electric field needed for band gap closing is proposed which is in good agreement with DFT results. In additional, we show that the larger diameter tubes are more sensitive than small ones. Number and position of peaks in DOS and JDOS spectra for armchair and zigzag tubes with similar radius are dependent on electric field strength.     

Mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the twisted graphene nanoribbons

Molecular dynamics method was used to simulate the twists of four GNRs (graphene nanoribbons), two AGNRs (armchair GNRs), and two ZGNRs (zigzag GNRs). Thermal conductivity of the length-fixing GNRs under torsion and at high temperature was calculated. It is found that the ZGNRs have better torsional rigidity than the AGNRs; under the torsional deformation of 34.2°/nm local buckling occurs in the length-fixing GNRs, and under the deformation of 22.8°/nm overall buckling occurs in the ones with free-length. In the range of investigated twist-angle and temperature, the thermal conductivity of the length-fixing GNRs decreases with the increase of torsional deformation and temperature. The wider GNRs have better anti-torsion capability and thermal conductivity.     

轴压和扭转复合载荷作用下氮化硼纳米管屈曲行为的分子动力学模拟

采用分子动力学方法模拟了氮化硼纳米管在轴压和扭转复合荷载作用下的屈曲和后屈曲行为.在各加载比例下,给出了初始线性变形阶段和后屈曲阶段原子间相互作用力的变化,确定了屈曲临界荷载关系.通过对屈曲模态的细致研究,从微观变形机理上分析了纳米管对不同外荷载力学响应的差异.研究结果表明,扶手型和锯齿型纳米管均呈现出非线性的屈曲临界荷载关系,复合加载下的屈曲行为具有强烈的尺寸依赖性.温度升高将导致屈曲临界荷载的下降,且温度的影响随加载比例的变化而变化.无论在简单加载或复合加载中,同尺寸的碳纳米管均比氮化硼纳米管具有更强地抵抗屈曲荷载的能力.     

(n,n)-(2n, 0)碳纳米管异质结的扭转力学特性

相近直径的锯齿型和扶手椅型碳纳米管可以共轴组合形成5-7碳环交替出现的柱形对称异质结. 本文利用分子动力学方法研究了直径相近且等长锯齿型和扶手椅型碳纳米管形成的(n, n)-(2n, 0)结在扭转过程中的扭矩和轴向应力随扭转角度的变化规律以及应力传递过程. 研究发现, (n, n)-(2n, 0)结扭转应变在达弹性限度内不会产生轴向应力, 该效应对基于碳纳米管扭转特性的纳米振荡器件的设计具有重要意义.     

Resonance Transport of Graphene Nanoribbon T-Shaped Junctions

We investigate the transport properties of T-shaped junctions composed of armchair graphene nanoribbons of different widths. Three types of junction geometries are considered. The junction conductance strongly depends on the atomic features of the junction geometry. When the shoulders of the junction have zigzag type edges, sharp conductance resonances usually appear in the low energy region around the Dirac point, and a conductance gap emerges. When the shoulders of the junction have armchair type edges, the conductance resonance behavior is weakened significantly, and the metal-metal-metal junction structures show semimetallic behaviors. The contact resistance also changes notably due to the various interface geometries of the junction.     

曲率效应对超小碳纳米管电子性质的影响

在考虑曲率效应的情况下,在螺旋坐标系下解析地推导了非手性的碳纳米管(SWNTs)(包括扶手椅型和锯齿型)的能量色散关系,并分析了曲率效应对超小扶手椅型SWNTs的能带、能隙和导电能力及其对超小锯齿型SWNTs(包括扶手椅型和锯齿型)的能隙的影响.     

Strain effect on transport properties of hexagonal boronben nitride nanoribbons

The transport properties of hexagonal boron--nitride nanoribbons under the uniaxial strain are investigated by the Green's function method. We find that the transport properties of armchair boron--nitride nanoribbon strongly depend on the strain. In particular, the features of the conductance steps such as position and width are significantly changed by strain. As a strong tensile strain is exerted on the nanoribbon, the highest conductance step disappears and subsequently a dip emerges instead. The energy band structure and the local current density of armchair boron--nitride nanoribbon under strain are calculated and analysed in detail to explain these characteristics. In addition, the effect of strain on the conductance of zigzag boron--nitride nanoribbon is weaker than that of armchair boron nitride nanoribbon.     

Consideration of mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes under various loading conditions

In this article, mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with various radiuses under tensile, compressive and lateral loads are considered. Stress–strain curve, elastic modulus, tensile, compressive and rotational stiffness, buckling behaviour, and critical axial compressive load and pressure of eight different zigzag and armchair SWCNTs are investigated to figure out the effect of radius and chirality on mechanical properties of nanotubes. Using molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) method, it can be explained that SWCNTs have higher Young’s modulus and tensile stiffness than compressive elastic modulus and compressive stiffness. Critical axial force of zigzag SWCNT is independent from the radius, but that of armchair type rises by increasing of radius, also these two types show different buckling modes.     

Transport properties of AA-stacking bilayer graphene nanoribbons

The transport properties of AA-stacking bilayer graphene nanoribbons (GNs) have been explored by using the nonequilibrium Green's function method and the Landauer–Büttiker formalism. It is found that in the case of zero bias, the interlayer coupling has pronounced effects on the conductance of bilayer GNs. The zigzag bilayer GNs remain metallic, but metallic armchair bilayer GNs will be semiconductor as the strength of interlayer coupling exceeds critical value. The first Van Hove singularities move close to the Dirac point for both armchair and zigzag bilayer GNs with the strength of interlayer coupling increasing. Some prominent conductance peaks around the Fermi energy are observed in zigzag bilayer GNs, when the top layer and bottom layer have different widths. In the presence of bias voltage, the I–V curves show that for armchair bilayer GNs, the interlayer interactions suppress current, while the interlayer interactions have almost no effect on the current for zigzag bilayer GNs. The ripples in bilayer GNs suppress electronic transport, especially for zigzag bilayer GNs.     

碳纳米管量子点的电子输运

在紧束缚近似下,利用常量相互作用模型和Landauer-Bütticker公式,计算了扶手椅型和金属锯齿型碳纳米管量子点的电导。发现,根据碳纳米管量子点的长度的不同,扶手椅型碳纳米管量子点的电导可以具有两电子或四电子的壳层结构。而锯齿型碳纳米管量子点的电导却仅有四电子的壳层结构,与长度无关;这些理论结果与之前的实验结果符合的很好。     

Mechanical properties of single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressure

Based on a molecular mechanics coupled with atomistic-based continuum theory, a closed-form formula is presented to examine the elastic properties of single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes subjected to hydrostatic pressure. Following the present model, the effects of the armchair and zigzag CNT structures on the pressure behavior are theoretically investigated. The computational result indicates that the bulk modulus is less sensitive to the chiral structures except for very small tube diameters. Moreover, closed-end nanotubes under hydrostatic pressure exhibit a larger bulking modulus than open ended nanotubes. The cap of the zigzag tubes has a larger effect on the bulk modulus when compared to the armchair tubes, especially in small diameter nanotubes. The predicted strain and the bulk modulus are in good agreement with existing theoretical results. PACS 61.46.+w; 62.20.Dc; 62.20.-x; 62.25.+g     

Band gap of carbon nanotubes under combined uniaxial–torsional strain

Within tight-binding model, the band gaps of armchair and zigzag carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under both uniaxial tensile and torsional strains have been studied. It is found that the changes in band gaps of CNTs depend strongly on the strain type. The torsional strain can induce a band gap for armchair CNTs, but it has little effect on band gap of the zigzag CNTs. While the tensile strain has great effect on band gap of zigzag CNTs, but it has no effect on that of the armchair CNTs. More importantly, when both the tensile and torsional strains are simultaneously applied to the CNTs, the band gap changes of armchair CNTs are not equal to a simple sum over those induced separately by uniaxial tensile and torsional strains. There exists a cooperative effect between two kinds of strains on band gap changes of armchair CNTs. But for zigzag CNTs, the cooperative effect was not found. Analytical expressions for the band gaps of armchair and zigzag CNTs under combined uniaxial–torsional strains have been derived, which agree well with the numerical results.     

Combined effect of Aharonov-Bohm effect and uniaxial strain on quantum conductance oscillations of carbon nanotube resonators

Using the π orbital tight-binding model and the multi-channel Laudauer-Büttiker formula, the combined effect of Aharonov-Bohm effect (induced by an axial magnetic field) and uniaxial strain on quantum conductance oscillations of the electronic Fabry-Perot resonators composed of armchair and metallic zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been studied. It is found that, for the case of the armchair SWNT, conductance oscillations near the band gap are dominated by Aharonov-Bohm effect, while the conductance oscillations in other regions are dominated by the uniaxial strains. The combined effect of Aharonov-Bohm effect and uniaxial strains on quantum conductance oscillations is not obvious. But, for the case of the metallic zigzag SWNTs, obvious single-channel transport and one or two conductance oscillations existing in two different gate voltage ranges were found by the combined effect of uniaxial strain and axial magnetic field.     

Gallium doped in armchair and zigzag models of boron phosphide nanotubes (BPNTs): A NMR study

The electrical properties and NMR parameters of the pristine and Ga-doped structures of two representative (8, 0) zigzag and (4, 4) armchair of boron phosphide nanotubes (BPNTs) have been investigated. The structural geometries of above nanotubes have been allowed to relax by optimization and then the isotropic and anisotropic chemical shielding parameters (CSI and CSA) of ¹¹B and ³¹P have been calculated based on DFT theory. The results reveal that the influence of Ga-doping was more significant on the geometries of the zigzag model than the armchair one. The difference of band gap energies between the pristine and Ga-doped armchair BPNTs was larger than the zigzag model. Significant differences of NMR parameters of those nuclei directly contributed to the Ga-doping atoms have been observed.     

Domain boundaries in silicene:Density functional theory calculations on electronic properties

By using density functional theory(DFT)-based first-principles calculations, the structural stability and electronic properties for two kinds of silicene domain boundaries, forming along armchair edge and zigzag edge, have been investigated. The results indicate that a linkage of tetragonal and octagonal rings(4|8) appears along the armchair edge, while a linkage of paired pentagonal and octagonal rings(5|5|8) appears along the zigzag edge. Different from graphene, the buckling properties of silicene lead to two mirror symmetrical edges of silicene line-defect. The formation energies indicate that the 5|5|8 domain boundary is more stable than the 4|8 domain boundary. Similar to graphene, the calculated electronic properties show that the 5|5|8 domain boundaries exhibit metallic properties and the 4|8 domain boundaries are half-metal.Both domain boundaries create the perfect one-dimensional(1D) metallic wires. Due to the metallic properties, these two kinds of nanowires can be used to build the silicene-based devices.