Ab initio study of Ru-terminated and Ru-doped armchair graphene nanoribbons

We investigate the effects of ruthenium (Ru) termination and Ru doping on the electronic properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) using first-principles methods. The electronic band structures, geometries, density of states, binding energies, band gap information, and formation energies of related structures are calculated. It is well founded that the electronic properties of the investigated AGNRs are highly influenced by Ru termination and Ru doping. With Ru termination, metallic band structures with quasi-zero-dimensional, one-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional density of states (DOS) behavior are obtained in addition to dominant one-dimensional behavior. In contrast to Ru termination, Ru doping introduces small but measurable (12.4 to 89.6?meV) direct or indirect band gaps. These results may present an additional way to produce tunable band gaps in AGNRs.     

First principles calculations of armchair graphene nanoribbons interacting with Cu atoms

We have investigated the electronic properties of bare, H-terminated, Cu-terminated and Cu-doped armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) using ab-initio approach. We found that H-termination enhances the stability and band gap whereas H extraction introduces dangling bands and lowers the band gap making bare ribbons indirect band gap semiconductors. The calculations revealed that strong hybridization between Cu atoms and AGNRs, lessen the band gap for Cu-terminated ribbons and gives rise to metallicity in Cu-doped AGNRs irrespective of their widths. Formation energy of considered ribbons yield that H-terminated AGNRs with lowest formation energy are most energetically favored, next are one edge Cu-terminated ribbons followed by bare ones whereas both edges Cu-doped ribbons are least energetically plausible. We predict that presence of Cu atoms in GNRs, significantly alter the band gap and can be used in band gap engineering of nanoribbons.     

铂掺杂扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带的电学特性研究

本文采用基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的第一性原理计算了铂原子填充扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带(AGNR)中双空位结构的电学性能.计算结果表明: 通过控制铂原子的掺杂位置, 可以实现纳米带循环经历小带隙半导体—金属—大带隙半导体的相变过程; 纳米带边缘位置是铂原子掺杂的最稳定位置, 边缘掺杂纳米带的带隙值随宽度的变化与本征AGNR一样可用三簇曲线表示, 但在较大宽度时简并成两条曲线, 一定程度上抑制了带隙值的振荡; 并且铂原子边缘掺杂导致宽度系数N_a = 3p和3p + 1(p是一个整数)的几个较窄纳米带的带隙中出现杂质能级, 有效地降低了其过大的带隙值. 此外, 铂掺杂AGNR的能带结构对掺杂浓度不是很敏感, 从而降低了对实验精度的挑战. 本文的计算有利于推动石墨烯纳米带在纳米电子学方面的应用.     

Spin gapless armchair graphene nanoribbons under magnetic field and uniaxial strain

Using Green＇s function method, we investigate the spin transport properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons （AG- NRs） under magnetic field and uniaxial strain. Our results show that it is very difficult to transform narrow AGNRs directly from semiconductor to spin gapless semiconductors （SGS） by applying magnetic fields. However, as a uniaxial strain is exerted on the nanoribbons, the AGNRs can transform to SGS by a small magnetic field. The combination mode be- tween magnetic field and uniaxial strain displays a nonmonotonic arch-pattern relationship. In addition, we find that the combination mode is associated with the widths of nanoribbons, which exhibits group behaviors.     

First-principles study of the electronic structure and transport properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons with adsorbed super-halogen LiF2 and super-alkali Li3 clusters

The electronic structure and quantum transport properties of pristine armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) and AGNRs adsorbing super-halogen LiF₂ and super-alkaline Li₃ clusters (Li₃/AGNRs/LiF₂) were investigated using density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function calculations. It was found that LiF₂ and Li₃ clusters are stably adsorbed on the AGNRs, and the adsorption of Li₃ and LiF₂ endows AGNRs with the characteristics of n-type and p-type semiconductors, respectively. The Li₃/AGNRs/LiF₂ structure reduces the band gap and the turn-on voltage, and improves the transmission coefficient of the ANGRs device. This structure also exhibit the rectification characteristics of a pn junction with the forward bias current greater than the reverse bias current. This shows that adsorption of super-alkali and super-halogen clusters in different regions of AGNRs is a feasible approach for obtaining AGNRs with pn junction characteristics.     

First-principle study of energy band structure of armchair graphene nanoribbons

First-principle calculation is carried out to study the energy band structure of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs). Hydrogen passivation is found to be crucial to convert the indirect band gaps into direct ones as a result of enhanced interactions between electrons and nuclei at the edge boundaries, as evidenced from the shortened bond length as well as the increased differential charge density. Ribbon width usually leads to the oscillatory variation of band gaps due to quantum confinement no matter hydrogen passivated or not. Mechanical strain may change the crystal symmetry, reduce the overlapping integral of C–C atoms, and hence modify the band gap further, which depends on the specific ribbon width sensitively. In practical applications, those effects will be hybridized to determine the energy band structure and subsequently the electronic properties of graphene. The results can provide insights into the design of carbon-based devices.     

石墨烯纳米带能带结构及透射特性的扭曲效应

利用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法, 系统研究了石墨烯纳米带(GNRs)电学性质的扭曲效应. 结果表明: 锯齿型石墨纳米带(ZGNRs)的带隙对扭曲形变最不敏感, 在扭曲过程中几乎保持金属性不变, 其次是W=3p-1型扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带(AGNRs), 扭曲时带隙也只有较小的变化. W=3p+1型AGNRs的带隙对扭曲最为敏感, 扭曲发生时, 呈现宽带隙半导体、中等带隙半导体、准金属、金属的变化, 其次是W=3p型AGNRs, 扭曲时带隙变化也较为明显. 换言之, GNRs在无扭曲时带隙越大, 扭曲发生后带隙变化(变小)越明显. 对于整个电子结构及透射系数来说, 扭曲对AGNRs影响较大, 而对ZGNRs的影响相对小些. 研究表明: 由于石墨烯容易变形, 其相关电子器件的设计必须适当考虑扭曲对电学性质的影响.     

掺杂菱形BN片的石墨烯纳米带的电子特性

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,系统研究掺杂菱形BN片的石墨烯纳米带的电子特性.掺杂使扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带（AGNRs）的带隙增大,不同位置掺杂AGNRs的带隙大小略有差异.在无磁性态,无论是否掺杂,锯齿型石墨烯纳米带（ZGNRs）都为金属.在铁磁态,掺杂使ZGNRs由金属转变为半导体.而处于反铁磁态时,无论是否掺杂,ZGNRs都为半导体,掺杂使其带隙发生改变.掺杂的AGNRs和ZGNRs的结构稳定,掺杂ZGNRs的基态为反铁磁态.掺杂菱形BN片可以有效调控GNRs的电子特性.     

Engineering the work function of armchair graphene nanoribbons using strain and functional species: a first principles study

First principles density functional theory calculations were performed to study the effects of strain, edge passivation, and surface functional species on the structural and electronic properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs), with a particular focus on the work function. The work function was found to increase with uniaxial tensile strain and decrease with compression. The variation of the work function under strain is primarily due to the shift of the Fermi energy with strain. In addition, the relationship between the work function variation and the core level shift with strain is discussed. Distinct trends of the core level shift under tensile and compressive strain were discovered. For AGNRs with the edge carbon atoms passivated by oxygen, the work function is higher than for nanoribbons with the edge passivated by hydrogen under a moderate strain. The difference between the work functions in these two edge passivations is enlarged (reduced) under a sufficient tensile (compressive) strain. This has been correlated to a direct-indirect bandgap transition for tensile strains of about 4% and to a structural transformation for large compressive strains at about - 12%. Furthermore, the effect of the surface species decoration, such as H, F, or OH with different covering density, was investigated. It was found that the work function varies with the type and coverage of surface functional species. Decoration with F and OH increases the work function while H decreases it. The surface functional species were decorated on either one side or both sides of AGNRs. The difference in the work functions between one-sided and two-sided decorations was found to be relatively small, which may suggest an introduced surface dipole plays a minor role.     

单空位缺陷诱导的扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带电学性能的转变

本文基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算了单空位缺陷对 扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带电学特性的影响. 计算结果表明: 当单空位位于纳米带边缘位置时, 系统结构最稳定. 不同位置上单空位缺陷的引入都会使得原本为半导体的本征 扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带变成金属性; 随着单空位浓度的减小, 其对纳米带能带结构的影响逐渐减弱; 随着纳米带宽度的增大, 表征其金属性的特征值表现出震荡性的减弱. 单空位缺陷诱导的扶手椅型纳米带的半导体特性到金属特性的转变为石墨烯在 电子器件中的应用提供了理论指导. 关键词： 扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带 单空位缺陷 电学性能     

Strain Effects on Properties of Phosphorene and Phosphorene Nanoribbons: a DFT and Tight Binding Study

We perform comprehensive density functional theory calculations of strain effect on electronic structure of black phosphorus(BP) and on BP nanoribbons. Both uniaxial and biaxial strain are applied, and the dramatic change of BP's band structure is observed. Under 0-8% uniaxial strain, the band gap can be modulated in the range of 0.55-1.06 eV, and a direct-indirect band gap transition causes strain over 4% in the y direction. Under 0-8% biaxial strain, the band gap can be modulated in the range of 0.35-1.09 eV, and the band gap maintains directly.Applying strain to BP nanoribbon, the band gap value reduces or enlarges markedly either zigzag nanoribbon or armchair nanoribbon. Analyzing the orbital composition and using a tight-binding model we ascribe this band gap behavior to the competition between effects of different bond lengths on band gap. These results would enhance our understanding on strain effects on properties of BP and phosphorene nanoribbon.     

Analysis of strained double-lightly doped MOSCNT using NEGF

The effects of uniaxial and torsional strains on the double-lightly doped MOSCNT (DLD-MOSCNT) performances are investigated, using the non-equilibrium Green function (NEGF) formalism in mode space approach. The Hamiltonian of the device is obtained by a tight-binding approximation assuming that only p _z orbitals are contributing in carrier transport. In all simulation processes, one mode with the lowest subband is considered. DLD-MOSCNT has a small band-to-band tunneling and almost eliminates the ambipolar behavior of I _DS–V _GS characteristics because of the band engineering. We use a modified model to demonstrate the strain effects on such a low OFF-current device. The results show that the strain effects mainly depend on the chiral vector and diameter of CNT. The strain causes band gap and carrier velocity changes, which result in variation of ON- or OFF-current. In addition, the subthreshold swing of this device under uniaxial strain is calculated, which is about 61 mV/Dec for 2 % tensile strain in (16,0) and for ?2 % compressive strain in (17,0). Under the uniaxial strain, in the case that the energy band gap increases, the variation of DIBL is very small.     

Tuning carbon nanotube band gaps with strain

We show that the band structure of a carbon nanotube (NT) can be dramatically altered by mechanical strain. We employ an atomic force microscope tip to simultaneously vary the NT strain and to electrostatically gate the tube. We show that strain can open a band gap in a metallic NT and modify the band gap in a semiconducting NT. Theoretical work predicts that band gap changes can range between +/-100 meV per 1% stretch, depending on NT chirality, and our measurements are consistent with this predicted range.     

多层黑磷中厚度和应力依赖的能隙变化研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法研究了单层及多层黑磷晶体的能隙随层数和外加应力的变化.计算结果表明,体系能隙随着层数的增加而减小,当层数增加到10时,二维黑磷的能隙非常接近于其体材料值.层间的相互作用导致的能带劈裂是能隙减小的直接原因.应力对10层黑磷电子结构的影响也被研究.计算表明,压缩应力可以使10层黑磷从半导体转变为金属,而拉伸应力仅对能隙大小产生影响.     

多层黑磷中厚度和应力依赖的能隙变化研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法研究了单层及多层黑磷晶体的能隙随层数和外加应力的变化.计算结果表明,体系能隙随着层数的增加而减小,当层数增加到10时,二维黑磷的能隙非常接近于其体材料值.层间的相互作用导致的能带劈裂是能隙减小的直接原因.应力对10层黑磷电子结构的影响也被研究.计算表明,压缩应力可以使10层黑磷从半导体转变为金属,而拉伸应力仅对能隙大小产生影响.     

Tailored nanoheterojunctions for optimized light emission

We present coupled classical and quantum simulations of 1 to 2 nm Si nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in amorphous SiO(2) and we show that by tuning the density of the oxide matrix one may change the relative alignment of Si NC and SiO(2) electronic states at the interface. We find that interfacial strain plays a key role in determining the variation of the nanaoparticle gap as a function of size, as well as of conduction band offsets with the oxide. In particular, our results show that it is the variation of the valence band offset with size that is responsible for the gap change. Our findings suggest that the elastic properties of the embedding matrix may be tuned to tailor the energy levels of small Si NCs so as to optimize their performance in optoelectronic devices and solar cells.     

Strain and chirality effects on the mechanical and electronic properties of silicene and silicane under uniaxial tension

We present first principles theory calculations on the mechanical and electronic properties of silicene and silicane structure under uniaxial tensile strain along different directions. Chirality effect is more significant in the mechanical properties of silicene than those of silicane. Different failure mechanisms are identified. A small band gap (up to 0.8 eV) is developed from zero with silicene structure under uniaxial tension and vanishes before the structure reaches its in-plane ultimate strength. However, a pre-existing band gap (2.39 eV) exists with silicane structure and decreases to zero with the increasing tensile strain without chirality effects.     

Strain effect on the electronic properties of 1T-HfS2 monolayer

We perform first-principles based on the density function theory to investigate electronic and magnetic properties of 1T-HfS₂ monolayer with biaxial tensile strain and compressive strain. The results show that HfS₂ monolayer under strains doesn’t display magnetic properties. When the strain is 0%, the HfS₂ monolayer presents an indirect band gap semiconductor with the band gap is about 1.252 eV. The band gap of HfS₂ monolayer decreases quickly with increasing compressive strain and comes to zero when the compressive strain is above −7%, the HfS₂ monolayer system turns from semiconductor to metal. While the band gap increases slowly with increasing tensile strain and comes to 1.814 eV when the tensile strain is 10%. By comparison, we find that the compressive strain is more effective in band engineering of pristine 1T-HfS₂ monolayer than the tensile strain. And we notice that the extent of band gap variation is different under tensile strain. The change of band gap with strain from 1% to 5% is faster than that of the strain 6–10%. To speak of, the conduction band minimum (CBM) is all located at M point with different strains. While the valence band maximum (VBM) turns from Γ point to K point when the strain is equal to and more than 6%.     

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.     

Electronic transport for armchair graphene nanoribbons with a potential barrier

We theoretically investigate the electronic transport properties through a rectangular potential barrier embedded in armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) of various widths. Using the Landauer formula and Dirac equation with the continuity conditions for all segments of wave functions at the interfaces between regions inside and outside the barrier, we calculate analytically the conductance and Fano factor for the both metallic and semiconducting AGNRs, respectively. It is shown that, by some numerical examples, at Dirac point the both types of AGNRs own a minimum conductance associated with the maximum Fano factor. The results are discussed and compared with the previous relevant works.