Transport Properties of Hybrid Zigzag Graphene and Boron Nitride Nanoribbons

Abstract

The transport properties of hybrid nanoribbons formed by partially substituting zigzag boron nitride (graphene) nanoribbons into zigzag graphene (boron nitride) nanoribbons are investigated using the first-principles nonequilibrium Green’s function method. The transport properties are highly improved with the transmission conductance around the Fermi level increasing to 3G0 in hybrid systems based on zigzag graphene nanoribbons and to 2G0 in hybrid systems based on zigzag boron nitride nanoribbons. The enhancement is attributed to the coupling effect between B (N) atoms and C atoms at the interface of hybrid systems, which introduces a pair of bonding and antibonding bands around the Fermi level. The transport enhancement also remains in hybrid nanoribbons sandwiched into gold electrodes. The currents of such devices are improved compared with those of pristine ones, which originate from the additional transport channels at the C–B interface.