Loading...

Strain effect on quantum conductance of graphene nanoribbons from maximally localized wannier functions

Rasuli, R. (Reza) ; Sharif University of Technology

367 Viewed
  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.81.125409
  3. Abstract:
  4. Density-functional study of strain effects on the electronic band structure and transport properties of the graphene nanoribbons (GNR) is presented. We apply a uniaxial strain (ε) in the x (nearest-neighbor) and y (second-nearest-neighbor) directions, related to the deformation of zigzag- and armchair-edge GNRs (AGNR and ZGNR), respectively. We calculate the quantum conductance and band structures of the GNR using the Wannier function in a strain range from −8% to +8% (minus and plus signs show compression and tensile strain). As strain increases, depending on the AGNR family type, the electrical conductivity changes from an insulator to a conductor. This is accompanied by a variation in the electron and hole effective masses. The compression εx in ZGNR shifts some bands to below the Fermi level (Ef) and the quantum conductance does not change but the tensile εx causes an increase in the quantum conductance to 10e2/h near the Ef. For transverse direction, it is very sensitive to strain and the tensile εy causes an increase in the conductance while the compressive εy decreases the conductance at first but increases it later
  5. Keywords:
  6. Strain-induced splitting ; Fullerenes and related materials
  7. Source: Physical Review B: Condensed Matter ; Volume 81, Issue 12, Article number 125409 , 5 March , 2010
  8. URL: http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.81.125409