Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of armchair graphene nanoribbons under uniaxial strain

TL;DR

This study investigates how uniaxial strain affects the current-voltage characteristics of armchair graphene nanoribbons, revealing that tension significantly alters electrical behavior through band gap modifications, with potential for monitoring structural changes.

Contribution

It provides first principles insights into the impact of uniaxial tension on I-V characteristics and structural evolution of graphene nanoribbons.

Findings

Current depends strongly on applied tension at fixed bias-voltage.

Band gaps of nanoribbons change with uniaxial tension.

Structural changes and carbon chain formation can be monitored via transport measurements.

Abstract

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of armchair graphene nanoribbons under a local uniaxial tension are investigated by using first principles quantum transport calculations. It is shown that for a given value of bias-voltage, the resulting current depends strongly on the applied tension. The observed trends are explained by means of changes in the band gaps of the nanoribbons due to the applied uniaxial tension. In the course of plastic deformation, the irreversible structural changes and derivation of carbon monatomic chains from graphene pieces can be monitored by two-probe transport measurements.