Local strain effect on the band gap engineering of graphene by a first-principles study

Journal Article · Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4907410· OSTI ID:22420269

Gui, Gui; Booske, John; Ma, Zhenqiang ^[1]; Morgan, Dane ^[2]; Zhong, Jianxin ^[3]

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1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1509 University Avenue Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
3. Hunan Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy Materials and Devices, Faculty of Materials, Optoelectronics and Physics, Xiangtan University, Hunan 411105 (China)

We have systematically investigated the effect of local strain on electronic properties of graphene by first-principles calculations. Two major types of local strain, oriented along the zigzag and the armchair directions, have been studied. We find that local strain with a proper range and strength along the zigzag direction results in opening of significant band gaps in graphene, on the order of 10{sup −1 }eV; whereas, local strain along the armchair direction cannot open a significant band gap in graphene. Our results show that appropriate local strain can effectively open and tune the band gap in graphene; therefore, the electronic and transport properties of graphene can also be modified.

• OSTI ID: 22420269
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
CHARGE TRANSPORT
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
GRAPHENE
STRAINS