Negative differential resistance in ZnO coated peptide nanotube

We investigate the room temperature electronic transport properties of a zinc oxide (ZnO) coated peptide nanotube contacted with Au electrodes. Current–voltage (I–V) characteristics show asymmetric negative differential resistance (NDR) behavior along with current rectification. The NDR phenomenon is observed in both negative and positive voltage sweep scans, and found to be dependent on the scan rate and humidity. Our results suggest that the NDR is due to protonic conduction arising from water molecule redox reaction on the surface of ZnO coated peptide nanotubes rather than the conventional resonant tunneling mechanism.     

Sulfur dioxide molecule sensors based on zigzag graphene nanoribbons with and without Cr dopant

Structure, electronic, and transport properties of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) molecule adsorbed on pure and Cr doped zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) are investigated by means of first principle density functional theory and nonequilibrium Greenʼs function computations. It is found that Cr doped ZGNR is more sensitive to SO₂ molecule than pure ZGNR. The pure ZGNRs with and without SO₂ molecule show similar I–V curves, but the current of Cr doped ZGNR will significant increase after SO₂ molecule adsorption.     

Rectifying performance in zigzag graphene nanoribbon heterojunctions with different edge hydrogenations

Using nonequilibrium Green?s functions in combination with the density functional theory, we investigated the electronic transport behaviors of zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) heterojunctions with different edge hydrogenations. The results show that electronic transport properties of ZGNR heterojunctions can be modulated by hydrogenations, and prominent rectification effects can be observed. We propose that the edge dihydrogenation leads to a blocking of electronic transfer, as well as the changes of the distribution of the frontier orbital at negative/positive bias might be responsible for the rectification effects. These results may be helpful for designing practical devices based on graphene nanoribbons.     

Electronic transport for pristine and doped crossed graphene nanoribbon junctions with zigzag interfaces

Using the fully self-consistent non-equilibrium Green?s function (NEGF) method combined with density functional theory, we investigate numerically the electronic transport property for pristine and doped crossed graphene nanoribbon (GNR) junctions. It is demonstrated that in the case of zigzag interfaces, the I–V characteristics of the junction with or without doping always show semiconducting behavior, which is different from that in the case of armchair interfaces [Zhou, Liao, Zhou, Chen, Zhou, Eur. Phys. J. B 76 (2010) 421]. Interestingly, negative differential resistance (NDR) behavior can be clearly observed in a certain bias region for nitrogen-doped shoulder crossed junction. A mechanism for the NDR behavior is suggested.     

The effects of trap density on current bistability and negative differential resistance in organic bistable devices

Current bistable properties and negative differential resistance (NDR) behaviors of organic bistable devices (OBDs) with a single layer were simulated by using Shockley–Reed statistics for the trap population. The current–voltage (I–V) curves were calculated to investigate the effects of the trap density on the NDR characteristics of current bistabilities in the OBDs. The simulation results of the I–V curves showed that the current bistability and the NDR behavior of the OBDs were dominantly attributed to the trapped electrons in the organic layer. The NDR behavior of the I–V curve appeared with increasing trap density, and the increasing rate of the internal electric field caused by the trapped electrons became larger than that of the external electric field due to the applied voltage. This resulted in the appearance of NDR behavior in the I–V curves. These results can help improve understanding of the effects of the trap density on the current bistability and the origin of the NDR behavior in the I–V characteristic in OBDs.     

Theoretical study on transport properties of a BN co-doped SiC nanotube

We investigate the electronic transport properties of silicon carbide nanotubes (SiCNT) in presence of both boron (B) and nitrogen (N) impurities. The results show that co-doping BN impurities suppresses the important negative differential resistance (NDR) property. NDR suppression is attributed to the introduction of new electronic states near the Fermi level followed by weak orbital localization. BN co-doping results in exponential current-voltage (I-V) characteristics which is in contrast to linear I-V characteristics for individual boron and nitrogen doped SiCNTs. HOMO has no contribution from B impurity, whereas, LUMO has contribution from N impurity at low and high bias.     

Structural and dielectric properties of La- and Ti-modified K0.5Na0.5NbO3 ceramics

We report the results of studies of rectifying behavior, positive magneoresistance (MR), the charge-transport mechanism and the effect of an electric field on a ZnO (n)/La_0.5Pr_0.2Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LPSMO) (p)/SrNb_0.002Ti_0.998O₃ (SNTO) (n) heterostructure comprising two p–n junctions fabricated using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The heterostructure exhibits rectifying behavior over a wide temperature and field range having hysteresis in I–V behavior (forward bias) due to the tunneling of charge carriers. It is also observed that, depending on the nature of the electric field bias to n-type ZnO and SNTO, the junction resistance becomes modified, which has been explained on the basis of spin injection in the heterostructure. The observation of unconventional positive MR at room temperature has been justified on the basis of interface effects and the reduction in barrier height obtained using fitting of the I–V data by a thermionic emission model.     

First principles investigation of the spin transport properties in graphene-porphine-graphene nanojunctions

The spin-dependent transport properties of a porphine molecule linking with two zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) electrodes have been investigated by using the density of functional theory (DFT) combined with the non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) method. The device shows clearly negative differential resistance (NDR), large tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) of 10³ magnitude and nearly 100% perfect spin filter efficiency (SFE) properties, respectively. What’s more, the projected density of states (PDOS), molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian (MPSH) eigenvalues and transmission eigenstates were carried out to discuss the transport properties of the ZGNR/Porphine/ZGNR nanojunction. These results suggest that the ZGNR/Porphine/ZGNR device is a promising candidate for multi-functional spintronic devices.     

Tailoring atomic structure to control the electronic transport in zigzag graphene nanoribbon

We have performed ab initio   density functional theory calculation to study the electronic transport properties of the tailored zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) with particular electronic transport channels. Our results demonstrated that tailoring the atomic structure had significantly influenced the electronic transport of the defective nanostructures, and could lead to the metal-semiconducting transition when sufficient atoms are tailored. The asymmetric I–V$I\text{–}V$ characteristics as a result of symmetry breaking have been exhibited, which indicates the route to utilize GNR as a basic component for novel nanoelectronics.     

Fabrication and electrical characterization of Au/p-Si/STO/Au contact

Au/STO/p-Si/Au structure is fabricated using pulsed laser deposition technique at room temperature. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the device show rectification behavior. Various junction parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance is determined using conventional forward bias I–V characteristics, Cheung method and Norde’s function. Au/STO/p-Si/Au structure shows non-ideal diode characteristics with the value of ideality factor of ∼5.1 and barrier height of ∼0.40 eV.     

Electrical properties and conduction mechanism of an organic-modified Au/NiPc/n-InP Schottky barrier diode

The effect of nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) organic interlayer on the electronic parameters of Au/n-InP Schottky contacts has been investigated using current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. Measurements showed that the barrier heights and ideality factors are 0.58 eV (I–V), 0.69 eV(C–V) and 1.32 for Au/n-InP Schottky contact and 0.80 eV (I–V), 1.12 eV (C–V) and 1.73 for Au/NiPc/n-InP Schottky contact, respectively. Experimental results show that the interfacial layer of NiPc increases the effective barrier height by the influence of the space charge region of the Au/n-InP Schottky junction. Further, Cheung’s and modified Norde functions are used to extract the barrier height, series resistance and ideality factors. The discrepancy between barrier heights estimated from I–V to C–V methods is also explained. Moreover, the energy distribution of interface state density is determined from the forward bias I–V data. Results show that the interface states and series resistance play an important role on electrical properties of the structures studied. The reverse leakage current conduction mechanism is investigated. Results reveal that the Schottky conduction mechanism is found to be dominant in the Au/n-InP Schottky contact. However, in the case of Au/NiPc/n-InP Schottky contact, the Schottky conduction mechanism is found to be dominant in the higher bias region, while Poole–Frenkel conduction is found to be dominant in the lower bias region.     

Anomalous negative-differential-resistance (NDR) characteristics of n+-GaAs/n−-GaAs/n-In0.2Ga0.8As/i-GaAs structure

An n⁺-GaAs/n⁻-GaAs/n-In_0.2Ga_0.8As/i-GaAs field-effect transistor (FET) structure has been fabricated and studied. An anomalous three-terminal-controlled negative-differential-resistance (NDR) phenomenon resulting from the real-space transfer effect is observed. This N-shaped NDR behavior is found in the higher drain-to-source voltage (V_DS) regime. Furthermore, the NDR is obtained at positive and negative gate-to-source bias (V_GS). The influence ofV_GSbias on the NDR characteristics is investigated.     

羟基饱和锯齿型石墨烯纳米带的电子结构

利用密度泛函理论,计算了羟基饱和锯齿型石墨烯纳米带(OH-ZGNRs)的相对稳定性和外加横向电场对其电子结构的影响.计算结果表明:OH-ZGNRs比氢饱和ZGNRs(H-ZGNRs)更为稳定,具有窄带隙自旋极化基态.此外,在外加横向电场作用下,OH-ZGNRs可实现半导体到半金属相转变. 关键词： 石墨烯纳米带 密度泛函理论 电场     

Band gap opening and optical absorption enhancement in graphene using ZnO nanocluster

Electronic, optical and transport properties of the graphene/ZnO heterostructure have been explored using first-principles density functional theory. The results show that Zn₁₂O₁₂ can open a band gap of 14.5 meV in graphene, increase its optical absorption by 1.67 times covering the visible spectrum which extends to the infra-red (IR) range, and exhibits a slight non-linear I–V characteristic depending on the applied bias. These findings envisage that a graphene/Zn₁₂O₁₂ heterostructure can be appropriate for energy harvesting, photodetection, and photochemical devices.     

Asymmetric Tunneling Conductance and the Non-Fermi Liquid Behavior of Strongly Correlated Fermi Systems

Tunneling differential conductivity (or resistivity) is a sensitive tool to experimentally test the non-Fermi liquid behavior of strongly correlated Fermi systems. In the case of common metals the Landau–Fermi liquid theory demonstrates that the differential conductivity is a symmetric function of bias voltage V. This is because the particle–hole symmetry is conserved in the Landau–Fermi liquid state. When a strongly correlated Fermi system turns out to be near the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition, its Landau–Fermi liquid properties disappear so that the particle–hole symmetry breaks making the differential tunneling conductivity to be asymmetric function of V. This asymmetry can be observed when a strongly correlated metal is in its normal, superconducting or pseudogap states. We show that the asymmetric part of the dynamic conductance does not depend on temperature provided that the metal is in its superconducting or pseudogap states. In normal state, the asymmetric part diminishes at rising temperatures. Under the application of magnetic field the metal transits to the Landau–Fermi liquid state and the differential tunneling conductivity becomes a symmetric function of V. These findings are in good agreement with recent experimental observations.     

Effects of contact oxidization on the transport properties of Au/ZGNR junctions

The transport properties of the junction assembled by zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) and Au electrode (Au/ZGNR) are investigated using first‐principles calculations. It is found that the Au/ZGNR junction behaves as a typical diode with Schottky barrier at the contact. Our results indicate that although the oxidization at the contact slightly influences the Schottky barrier, the I –V characteristic is effectively modulated. Such effect derives from the impact of the oxidization on the coupling between the ZGNRs and Au electrode.

     

Electrical and magnetic properties of Ni-Cu-Si heterojunction prepared by the liquid phase epitaxy technique

Ni-Cu-Si heterojunction was prepared by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique. Two growth solutions containing Indium (In) with Cu pieces and In with Ni pieces were employed during the fabrication process. The as-formed junction was directly characterized by different techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and thin film X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the Au/Ni/Cu/Si diode were found to be nonlinear, asymmetric, having a good rectification behavior with a very small leakage current of 0.003 μA at a reverse bias voltage of 2.0 V. The value of turn on voltage was located at 0.2 V. The magnetic properties were also evaluated at room temperature with a vibrating sample magnetometer. Systematic study of junction fabrication and characterization of such a heterosystem, comparison of the behavior of flat silicon and nanoporous silicon as substrates are presented and thoroughly discussed.     

金纳米线接触构型相关的双重负微分电阻与整流效应

运用第一性原理密度泛函理论(DFT)和非平衡格林函数(NEGF)方法, 研究了[111]Au纳米线与1, 4-二硫苯酚(DTB)构成的分子结的电子输运性质. 构建并优化不同的Au-DTB接触构型, 计算发现: 尖端顶位构型最利于电流输运; 非对称构型大多具有很好的整流特性(最大整流比为25.6); 部分结构出现双重负微分电阻(NDR)效应. 分析表明, 整流效应主要源于非对称接触构型两端S-Au键的稳定性差别; 尖端金原子与硫原子的耦合能级中, 近费米面的能级对低压区电子传输起主要作用; 电压增大, 离费米面较远的能级对输运起主导作用, DTB的本征能级也逐渐参与, 这一转变致使电流出现两峰一谷的双重NDR效应.     

Barrier height inhomogeneities in InN/GaN heterostructure based Schottky junctions

The electrical transport properties of InN/GaN heterostructure based Schottky junctions were studied over a wide temperature range of 200-500 K. The barrier height and the ideality factor were calculated from current-voltage (I-V) characteristics based on thermionic emission (TE), and found to be temperature dependent. The barrier height was found to increase and the ideality factor to decrease with increasing temperature. The observed temperature dependence of the barrier height indicates that the Schottky barrier height is inhomogeneous in nature at the heterostructure interface. Such inhomogeneous behavior was modeled by assuming the existence of a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights at the heterostructure interface.     

Temperature dependence of rectification and photovoltaic effects in regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene) films at the Schottky junction with Al electrode

Current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of regioregular (head–tail) poly(3-hexylthiophene), HT-PHT films in the sandwich cell structure of Al/HT-PHT/Au have been studied as a function of temperature. The cells showed typical rectification characteristics with the ratio of more than 10³, indicating the formation of the Schottky type junction at the interface of Al/HT-PHT. The temperature dependence of I–V characteristics at the forward biases are discussed with the bulk property of the HT-PHT. The reversed current and its characteristics are discussed taking the thermionic emission and diffusion models at the junctions of Al/HT-PHT into consideration.