title: Switching behavior of carbon chains bridging graphene nanoribbons: effects of uniaxial strain.
abstract: Recently, several experiments demonstrated the stability of chain-like carbon nanowires bridged between graphene nanoribbons, paving the way for potential applications in nanodevices. On the basis of density functional tight-binding calculations, we demonstrated switching for chains terminated with a five-membered ring under an applied strain, serving as a model for morphological changes in realistic materials. Electron transport calculations showed an increase of up to 100% in the output current, achieved at a reverse bias voltage of -2 V and an applied strain of just 1.5%. Structural analysis suggested that the switching is driven by conformational changes, where in our case is triggered by the formation and annihilation of a five-membered ring at the interface of the chain-graphene edge. In addition, we showed that a five-membered ring can easily be formed at the interface under a source-drain bias or through a gate voltage. This mechanism can serve as an explanation of experimentally observed conductance for the materials.
authors.affiliation: Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials & Manufacturing Directorate, AFRL/RX Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, United States. brahim.akdim@wpafb.af.mil
authors.forename: Brahim
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Akdim
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pachter
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon