Structural stability and electronic properties of GaSb nanowires

The structural stability and electronic properties of four different shapes of GaSb nanowire have been studied by ab-initio method using the generalized gradient approximations. The different structures were two atom linear wire, two atom zigzag wire, four atom square wire and six atom hexagonal wire. The geometry optimization and the stability of all nanowires were investigated. We explore the minimum energy atomic configuration for all the considered shapes. We find that four atom square wire configuration has greater stability in comparison to other shapes. The analysis of density of states and band structures of optimized nanowires predicts that semiconducting nanowires may be metallic or semiconducting. The behavior entirely depends upon the geometrical structure.