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Tuning electronic transport of zigzag graphene nanoribbons by ordered B or N atom doping

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Abstract

Calculations of electronic structures and transport properties of zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) by ordered doping of a column of boron (B) or nitrogen (N) atoms were conducted using density functional theory combined with the non-equilibrium Green’s function. Introducing B or N impurity atoms into ZGNRs with an odd number of zigzag chains can suppress currents compared with the intrinsic ZGNR device. The ZGNRs with an even number of zigzag chains across their width show that B or N atom doping can increase currents compared with the intrinsic ZGNR nanojunction. Notably, B or N doping can induce a significant negative differential resistance behavior for ZGNRs with an even number of zigzag chains across their width. These findings provide avenues to modify the electronic transport of ZGNR-based systems. The findings also suggest that ZGNRs are potential materials for future nanoscale negative differential resistance device.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21301111 and 21503122), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. NCET-11-1033), Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province (Grant No. 2013011007-3), and Datong City Scientific and Technological Project of China (Grant Nos. 201315 and 201422-5).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics & Electronic Science, Institute of Applied Chemistry, Shanxi Datong University, Datong, 037009, China

    Lihua Wang, Zizhen Zhang, Jianguo Zhao & Yong Guo

  2. State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Bingjun Ding

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  1. Lihua Wang
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  2. Zizhen Zhang
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  3. Jianguo Zhao
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  5. Yong Guo
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Correspondence to Yong Guo.

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Wang, L., Zhang, Z., Zhao, J. et al. Tuning electronic transport of zigzag graphene nanoribbons by ordered B or N atom doping. J Comput Electron 15, 891–897 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-016-0825-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-016-0825-2

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