Switching behaviors of graphene-boron nitride nanotube heterojunctions

Journal Article · Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep12238· OSTI ID:1213398

Parashar, Vyom ^[1]; Durand, Corentin P. ^[2]; Hao, Boyi ^[1]; Amorim, Rodrigo G. ^[1]; Pandey, Ravindra ^[1]; Tiwari, Bishnu ^[1]; Zhang, Dongyan ^[1]; Liu, Yang ^[3]; Li, An -Ping ^[2]; Yap, Yoke Khin ^[1]

---

1. Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
3. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

High electron mobility of graphene has enabled their application in high-frequency analogue devices but their gapless nature has hindered their use in digital switches. In contrast, the structural analogous, h-BN sheets and BN nanotubes (BNNTs) are wide band gap insulators. Here we show that the growth of electrically insulating BNNTs on graphene can enable the use of graphene as effective digital switches. These graphene-BNNT heterojunctions were characterized at room temperature by four-probe scanning tunneling microscopy (4-probe STM) under real-time monitoring of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A switching ratio as high as 105 at a turn-on voltage as low as 0.5 V were recorded. Simulation by density functional theory (DFT) suggests that mismatch of the density of states (DOS) is responsible for these novel switching behaviors.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1213398
• Journal Information: Scientific Reports, Vol. 5; ISSN 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
electronic properties and materials
nanoscale materials