Electronic properties of α-graphyne nanoribbons under the electric field effect

In this paper, we investigate the electronic structure of both armchair and zigzag α-graphyne nanoribbons. We use a simple tight binding model to study the variation of the electronic band gap in α-graphyne nanoribbon. The effects of ribbon width, transverse electric field and edge shape on the electronic structure have been studied. Our results show that in the absence of external electric field, zigzag α-graphyne nanoribbons are semimetal and the electronic band gap in armchair α-graphyne nanoribbon oscillates and decreases with ribbon's width. By applying an external electric field the band gap in the electronic structure of zigzag α-graphyne nanoribbon opens and oscillates with ribbon width and electric field magnitude. Also the band gap of armchair α-graphyne nanoribbon decreases in low electric field, but it has an oscillatory growth behavior for high strength of external electric field.     

Modulation of electronic properties with external fields in silicene-based nanostructures

This work reviews our recent works about the density functional theory(DFT) calculational aspects of electronic properties in silicene-based nanostructures with the modulation of external fields, such as electric field, strain, etc. For the two-dimensional(2D) silicene-based nonostructures, the magnetic moment of Fe-doped silicene shows a sharp jump at a threshold electric field, which indicates a good switching effect, implying potential applications as a magnetoelectric(ME) diode. With the electric field, the good controllability and sharp switching of the magnetism may offer a potential applications in the ME devices. For the one-dimensional(1D) nanostructures, the silicene nanoribbons with sawtooth edges(SSi NRs) are more stable than the zigzag silicene nanoribbons(ZSiNRs) and show spin-semiconducting features. Under external electric field or uniaxial compressive strain, the gapless spin-semiconductors are gained, which is significant in designing qubits for quantum computing in spintronics. The superlattice structures of silicene-based armchair nanoribbons(ASiSLs) is another example for 1D silicene nanostructures. The band structures of ASi SLs can be modulated by the size and strain of the superlattices. With the stain increased, the related energy gaps of ASi SLs will change, which are significantly different with that of the constituent nanoribbons. The results suggest potential applications in designing quantum wells.     

弯曲BN纳米片的电子性质及其调制

BN纳米片是具有一定宽度、无限长度的一维蜂窝构型单层带状氮化硼材料,弯曲的BN纳米片因为P z轨道旋转,将表现出一定的独特的电子性质.通过第一性原理计算,利用MS(Material Studio)中的DMOL3(local density functional calculations on molecules)软件计算了Zigzag和Armchair型BN纳米片弯曲以后的能带结构.BN纳米带的带隙会随着弯曲角度的变化而改变,以Armchair型BN纳米带的变化较为明显;在弯曲的基础上再加入外电场,却是Zigzag型BN纳米带的带隙变化更显著.当电场加大到一定的值,纳米带就会从半导体变为金属,并且这一临界电场值的大小和纳米带的弯曲程度有关.电场对带隙的调制还和纳米带的尺寸有关系,电场对大尺度的纳米带的调控性更好,从半导体转变为金属所需要的电场值要更小.     

Band-gap modulation of graphane-like SiC nanoribbons under uniaxial elastic strain

The band-gap modulation of zigzag and armchair graphane-like SiC nanoribbons (GSiCNs) under uniaxial elastic strain is investigated using the density functional theory. The results show that band gap of both structures all decreases when being compressed or tensed. In compression, both zigzag and armchair GSiCNs are semiconductors with a direct band gap. However, in tension, the armchair GSiCNs undergo a direct-to-indirect band-gap transition but the zigzag GSiCNs still have a direct band gap. These results are also proved by HSE06 method. This implies a potential application of the graphane-like SiC nanoribbons in the future pressure sensor and optical electronics nanodevices.     

Electronic structures of the F-terminated AlN nanoribbons

Using the first-principles calculations, electronic properties for the F-terminated AlN nanoribbons with both zigzag and armchair edges are studied. The results show that both the zigzag and armchair AlN nanoribbons are semiconducting and nonmagnetic, and the indirect band gap of the zigzag AlN nanoribbons and the direct band gap of the armchair ones decrease monotonically with increasing ribbon width. In contrast, the F-terminated AlN nanoribbons have narrower band gaps than those of the H-terminated ones when the ribbons have the same bandwidth. The density-of-states (DOS) and local density-of-states (LDOS) analyses show that the top of the valence band for the F-terminated ribbons is mainly contributed by N atoms, while at the side of the conduction band, the total DOS is mainly contributed by Al atoms. The charge density contour analyses show that Al–F bond is ionic because the electronegativity of F atom is much stronger for F atom than for Al atom, while N–F bond is covalent because of the combined action of the stronger electronegativity and the smaller covalent radius.     

Electric field effects on electronic characteristics of arsenene nanoribbons

By using the first-principles calculations, we investigate the effects of electric field on electronic structures of armchair and zigzag arsenene nanoribbons (AsNRs) with different widths. The results show that for each case, quantum size effects induce a smaller band gap in larger AsNRs. Moreover, electric field can reduce effectively the band gap of AsNRs. In addition, the electric field can induce only the transition of band structures in the A-AsNRs or Z-AsNRs with narrow size. The band gap decrease more rapidly and the threshold electric field induced metal becomes smaller in the wider AsNRs.     

Band-gap modulations of armchair silicene nanoribbons by transverse electric fields

Under external transverse electronic fields, the structure and electronic properties of the silicene nanoribbon with armchair edge (ASiNR) are studied. We find that the electric properties are modified by a transverse electric field. As affected by a transverse electric field, the band gap varies with increasing absolute value of the field strength. All the results can be explained using the Stark quadratic effect.     

Electric field effect in ultrathin zigzag graphene nanoribbons

The electric field effect in ultrathin zigzag graphene nanoribbons containing only three or four zigzag carbon chains is studied by first-principles calculations, and the change of conducting mechanism is observed with increasing in-plane electric field perpendicular to the ribbon. Wider zigzag graphene nanoribbons have been predicted to be spin-splitted for both valence band maximum(VBM) and conduction band minimum(CBM) with an applied electric field and become half-metal due to the vanishing band gap of one spin with increasing applied field. The change of VBM for the ultrathin zigzag graphene nanoribbons is similar to that for the wider ones when an electric field is applied. However, in the ultrathin zigzag graphene nanoribbons, there are two kinds of CBMs, one is spin-degenerate and the other is spin-splitted, and both are tunable by the electric field. Moreover, the two CBMs are spatially separated in momentum space. The conducting mechanism changes from spin-degenerate CBM to spin-splitted CBM with increasing applied electric field. Our results are confirmed by density functional calculations with both LDA and GGA functionals, in which the LDA always underestimates the band gap while the GGA normally produces a bigger band gap than the LDA.     

Half-metallicity induced by out-of-plane electric field on phosphorene nanoribbons

Exploring the half-metallic nanostructures with large band gap and high carrier mobility is a crucial solution for developing high-performance spintronic devices. The electric and magnetic properties of monolayer zigzag black-phosphorene nanoribbons (ZBPNRs) with various widths are analyzed by means of the first-principles calculations. Our results show that the magnetic ground state is dependent on the width of the nanoribbons. The ground state of narrow nanoribbons smaller than 8ZBPNRs prefers ferromagnetic order in the same edge but antiferromagnetic order between two opposite edges. In addition, we also calculate the electronic band dispersion, density of states and charge density difference of 8ZBPNRs under the action of out-of-plane electric field. More interesting, the addition of out-of-plane field can modulate antiferromagnetic semiconductor to the half metal by splitting the antiferromagnetic degeneracy. Our results propose a new approach to realize half-metal in phosphorene, which overcomes the drawbacks of graphene/silicene with negligible band gap as well as the transitional metal sulfide (TMS) with low carrier mobility.     

Distinct edge states and optical conductivities in the zigzag and armchair silicene nanoribbons under exchange and electric fields

Based on the tight binding model, we investigate the low energy bandstructures, edge states, and optical absorptions for the silicene nanoribbons(SiNRs) with different terminations under an in-plane exchange field and/or a perpendicular electric field. We find that the zigzag SiNRs are gapped by the exchange field, but they could reenter the metallic state after the application of the electric field. Contrarily, a certain kind of armchair SiNRs remain gapless even if a weak exchange field is present. Furthermore, the combination of the exchange and electric fields could effectively modulate the penetration length and the components of the edge states in the SiNRs. The corresponding optical conductivities for the SiNRs are also calculated, which show remarkable dependence on the edge types of the SiNRs and the two external fields.     

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.     

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.     

单空位缺陷对石墨纳米带电子结构和输运性质的影响

基于第一性原理电子结构和输运性质计算,研究了单空位缺陷对单层石墨纳米带(包括zigzag型和armchair型带)电子性质的影响.研究发现,单空位缺陷使石墨纳米带在费米面上出现一平直的缺陷态能带;单空位缺陷的引入使zigzag型半导体性的石墨纳米带变为金属性,这在能带工程中有重要的应用价值;奇数宽度的armchair型石墨纳米带表现出金属特性,有着很好的导电性能,同时,偶数宽度的armchair型石墨带虽有金属性的能带结构,但却有类似半导体的伏安特性;单空位缺陷使得奇数宽度的armchair石墨纳米带导电 关键词： 石墨纳米带 单空位缺陷 电子结构 输运性质     

Effect of oxidation of graphene nanoribbons on electronic and magnetic properties

The electronic properties, band gap and ionization potential as well as the energies of the singlet and triplet states of zigzag and armchair graphene nanoribbons are calculated as a function of the number of oxygen atoms on the ribbon employing density functional theory at B3LYP/6-31G* level. The calculated band gaps indicate that both structures are semiconducting. The band gap of the armchair ribbons initially decreases followed by an increase with oxygen number. For zigzag ribbons the band gap decreases with increasing oxygen number whereas the ionization potential increases with oxygen content. In both armchair and zigzag ribbons the ionization potential shows a gradual increase with the number of oxygen atoms. Some of the oxygenated ribbons calculated have triplet ground states and have the density of states at the Fermi level for spin down greater than spin up suggesting the possibility they may be ferromagnetic semiconductors.     

Band structure of deformed armchair nanoribbon with bond alternation

Electronic energy band structure of deformed armchair graphene nanoribbons with bond alternation is studied by the tight-binding approximation. In the presence of bond alternation, all armchair graphene nanoribbons become semiconducting with small band gap opened at center of the Brillouin zone. Under tensional strain, armchair graphene nanoribbons can become metallic at the critical values of deformation and we can control the band gap of nanoribbon by its strain.     

Curvature effect on the electronic properties of BN nanoribbons

Density functional theory calculations have been used to investigate the rolling process of armchair boron nitride nanoribbons (n-ABNNRs, n?=?6,?8,?10,?12,?14,?16) to form (n,?0) zigzag boron nitrogen nanotubes (ZBNNTs, n?=?3–8). Results showed that by rolling (increasing the curvature) energy gap decreases and the difference between the initial and final states increases dramatically with decreasing the ribbon width. It was found that ZBNNTs have direct band gaps and the gap increases by diameter, while ABNNRs have direct band gaps which oscillate with the ribbon width.     

Effects of an electric field on the electronic and optical properties of zigzag boron nitride nanotubes

We have investigated the electro-optical properties of zigzag BNNTs, under an external electric field, using the tight binding approximation. It is found that an electric field modifies the band structure and splits the band degeneracy. Also the large electric strength leads to coupling the neighbor subbands which these effects reflect in the DOS and JDOS spectrum. It has been shown that, unlike CNTs, the band gap of BNNTs can be reduced linearly by applying a transverse external electric field. Also we show that the larger diameter tubes are more sensitive than small ones. The semiconducting metallic transition can be achieved through increasing the applied fields. The number and position of peaks in the JDOS spectrum are dependent on electric field strength. It is found that at a high electric field, the two lowest subbands are oscillatory with multiple nodes at the Fermi level.     

Strain-induced structural and direct-to-indirect band gap transition in ZnO nanotubes

First-principles calculations have been employed to investigate the structural transformation and direct to indirect band gap transition of ZnO nanotubes under uniaxial strain. The results show that armchair and zigzag nanotubes can be transformed to each other via unusual fourfold-coordinated structures under the applied strain. Both the armchair and zigzag nanotubes exhibit direct band gap while the unusual fourfold-coordinated ones display indirect band gap. The origin of such a direct-to-indirect band gap transition is explained based on the analyses of atomic orbital contributions.     

Stability and electronic structure of InN nanotubes from first-principles study

The stability and electronic structure of hypothetical InN nanotubes were studied by first-principles density functional theory. It was found that the strain energies of InN nanotubes are smaller than those of carbon nanotubes of the same radius. Single-wall zigzag InN nanotubes were found to be semiconductors with a direct band gap while the armchair counterparts have an indirect band gap. The band gaps of nanotubes decrease with increasing diameter, similar to the case of carbon nanotubes.     

Rippling and the external electric field on conductance in corrugated graphene nanoribbons molecular device

Molecular devices constructed using corrugated graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are proposed in the paper. Recursive Green's function calculations show that the intrinsic ripples in graphene and the external electric field energy play important roles on the electron transport properties. Negative differential resistance is observed in zigzag corrugated GNRs. With the wavelength of the ripples decreasing, both the zigzag and armchair corrugated GNRs exhibit ON/OFF characteristics. On applying external electric field, current decreases dramatically in zigzag corrugated GNRs. These findings show that corrugated GNRs can be used to design functional nanoscale devices.