Zener Tunneling in Semiconducting Nanotube and Graphene Nanoribbon p-n Junctions

TL;DR

This paper develops a theory for Zener tunneling in semiconducting carbon nanotube and graphene nanoribbon p-n junctions, showing they have higher tunneling probabilities than traditional semiconductors, enabling high-performance tunneling transistors.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for interband tunneling in 1D carbon nanostructures and compares their tunneling characteristics to conventional semiconductors.

Findings

Carbon nanotube and graphene nanoribbon p-n junctions exhibit higher tunneling probabilities.

High tunneling current magnitudes suggest potential for high-performance tunneling transistors.

Theoretical analysis of characteristic length and energy scales for tunneling.

Abstract

A theory is developed for interband tunneling in semiconducting carbon nanotube and graphene nanoribbon p-n junction diodes. Characteristic length and energy scales that dictate the tunneling probabilities and currents are evaluated. By comparing the Zener tunneling processes in these structures to traditional group IV and III-V semiconductors, it is proved that for identical bandgaps, carbon based 1D structures have higher tunneling probabilities. The high tunneling current magnitudes for 1D carbon structures suggest the distinct feasibility of high-performance tunneling-based field-effect transistors.