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.     

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.     

Band gap engineering in silicene: A theoretical study of density functional tight-binding theory

In this work, we performed first principles calculations based on self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding to investigate different mechanisms of band gap tuning of silicene. We optimized structures of silicene sheet, functionalized silicene with H, CH₃ and F groups and nanoribbons with the edge of zigzag and armchair. Then we calculated electronic properties of silicene, functionalized silicene under uniaxial elastic strain, silicene nanoribbons and silicene under external electrical fields. It is found that the bond length and buckling value for relaxed silicene is agreeable with experimental and other theoretical values. Our results show that the band gap opens by functionalization of silicene. Also, we found that the direct band gap at K point for silicene changed to the direct band gap at the gamma point. Also, the functionalized silicene band gap decrease with increasing of the strain. For all sizes of the zigzag silicene nanoribbons, the band gap is near zero, while an oscillating decay occurs for the band gap of the armchair nanoribbons with increasing the nanoribbons width. At finally, it can be seen that the external electric field can open the band gap of silicene. We found that by increasing the electric field magnitude the band gap increases.     

First-principles study on the electronic transport properties of M/SiC Schottky junctions (M=Ag,Au and Pd)

In this work, we investigate the electronic transport properties of M/SiC Schottky junctions (M=Ag, Au and Pd). The results show that the band structures of hydrogenated zigzag SiC nanoribbons (ZSiCNRs) and hydrogenated armchair SiC nanoribbons (ASiCNRs) are almost unaffected by their width changes. When the hydrogenated 7-ASiCNR is directly connected to the Ag, Au and Pd electrode, the transmission spectra of three metal-semiconductor junctions show that the Fermi level of metal is pinned to a fixed position in the semiconductor band gap of hydrogenated 7-ASiCNR. The nearly same rectifying current-voltage characteristics are found in three metal-semiconductor junctions. The average rectification ratios of three M/SiC Schottky junctions are all in the neighborhood of 10⁶. In other word, the M/SiC Schottky junction has remarkable application prospect as the candidate for Schottky Diode.     

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.     

Energy gaps in graphene nanoribbons

Based on a first-principles approach, we present scaling rules for the band gaps of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) as a function of their widths. The GNRs considered have either armchair or zigzag shaped edges on both sides with hydrogen passivation. Both varieties of ribbons are shown to have band gaps. This differs from the results of simple tight-binding calculations or solutions of the Dirac's equation based on them. Our ab initio calculations show that the origin of energy gaps for GNRs with armchair shaped edges arises from both quantum confinement and the crucial effect of the edges. For GNRs with zigzag shaped edges, gaps appear because of a staggered sublattice potential on the hexagonal lattice due to edge magnetization. The rich gap structure for ribbons with armchair shaped edges is further obtained analytically including edge effects. These results reproduce our ab initio calculation results very well.     

锯齿型与扶手椅型碳化硅纳米管光电性质第一性原理研究

本文基于密度泛函理论计算分析了手性参数为(17,0)、(20,0)、(26,0) (10,10)、(12,12)、(15,15)的碳化硅纳米管的能带图,态密度及主要光学性质。结果表明：锯齿型与扶手椅型碳化硅纳米管均具有明显的半导体性质;在相近直径下,扶手椅型碳化硅纳米管带隙宽度要大于锯齿型碳化硅纳米管的带隙宽度;碳化硅纳米管的光吸收峰在100nm~200nm之间,可用于制作紫外线探测器件。     

Electronic structures for armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons under a small uniaxial strain

We theoretically investigate the electronic structures for armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) under a small in-plane uniaxial strain along armchair (longitudinal) and zigzag (transversal) direction, respectively. We demonstrate that, by both the tight-binding calculation and first-principles study, the applying of a small asymmetrical strain results in variation of energy subband spacing, which opens a band gap for metallic AGNRs and modifies the band gaps for semiconducting AGNRs near the Fermi level. It is believed that these results are of importance in the band gap engineering and electromechanical applications of graphene-nanoribbon-based devices.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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     

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.     

Electronic structures and edge effects of Ga_2S_2 nanoribbons

Ab initio density functional theory calculations are carried out to predict the electronic properties and relative stability of gallium sulfide nanoribbons(Ga_2S_2-NRs) with either zigzag- or armchair-terminated edges. It is found that the electronic properties of the nanoribbons are very sensitive to the edge structure. The zigzag nanoribbons(Ga_2S_2-ZNRs)are ferromagnetic(FM) metallic with spin-polarized edge states regardless of the H-passivation, whereas the bare armchair ones(Ga_2S_2-ANRs) are semiconducting with an indirect band gap. This band gap exhibits an oscillation behavior as the width increases and finally converges to a constant value. Similar behavior is also found in H-saturated Ga_2S_2-ANRs,although the band gap converges to a larger value. The relative stabilities of the bare ANRs and ZNRs are investigated by calculating their binding energies. It is found that for a similar width the ANRs are more stable than the ZNRs, and both are more stable than some Ga_2S_2 nanoclusters with stable configurations.     

Large negative differential resistance behavior in arsenene nanoribbons induced by vacant defects

We have studied the electronic structures of arsenene nanoribbons with different edge passivations by employing first-principle calculations. Furthermore, the effects of the defect in different positions on the transport properties of arsenene nanoribbons are also investigated. We find that the band structures of arsenene nanoribbons are sensitive to the edge passivation. The current-voltage characteristics of unpassivated and O-passivated zigzag arsenene nanoribbons exhibit a negative differential resistance behavior, while such a peculiar phenomenon has not emerged in the unpassivated and O-passivated armchair arsenene nanoribbons. The vacant defects on both top and bottom edges in unpassivated armchair arsenene nanoribbon can make its current-voltage characteristic also present a negative differential resistance behavior. After expanding the areas of the top and bottom defects in unpassivated armchair arsenene nanoribbon, the peak-to-valley ratio of the negative differential resistance behavior can be enlarged obviously, which opens another way for the application of arsenene-based devices with a high switching ratio.     

C/SiC纳米管异质结电子结构的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算,对扶手椅型(4,4)和(6,6)及锯齿型(8,0)和(10,0)C/SiC纳米管异质结的电子结构进行了研究.结果表明两类异质结结构都表现为半导体特性.扶手椅型纳米管异质结形成了Ⅰ型异质结,电子和空穴都限制在碳纳米管部分.锯齿型纳米管异质结中价带顶主要分布在碳纳米管部分及C/SiC界面处,而导带底均匀分布在整个纳米管异质结上.这两种异质结结构在未来纳米器件中具有潜在的应用价值. 关键词： C/SiC纳米管异质结 第一性原理 电子结构     

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.     

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.