Fluorine-terminated cove-edged defected boron nitride nanoribbons based NDR for resonant tunneling diodes

Abstract

Using first principles calculations within the context of density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF), the electronic transport properties of fluorinated cove-edge defected zigzag boron nitride nanoribbons (ZBNNRs) are explored. Bond length reconstructions at the cove-edge of the ZBNNRs are shown to increase their stability. Passivating both edges (F-BN-F) converts the nanoribbons from metallic to semiconducting, as the dangling bonds at the cove-edge generate the energy bands across the Fermi level (EF). Further, the negative differential resistance (NDR) effect is observed in cove-edge defected ZBNNR-based devices with very high peak-to-valley current ratios (PVCR). The highest PVCR is measured to be around 3.35 × 1012. The NDR effect found in ZBNNRs indicates that selective edge fluorinated cove-edge defected ZBNNRs are potential materials for ultra-scaled devices.