Mechanically-Induced Transport Switching Effect in Graphene-based Nanojunctions

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical study of a mechanically-controlled electronic switching effect in graphene nanojunctions, where structural reconfigurations induced by strain lead to high ON/OFF transmission ratios, enabling potential device applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel strain-controlled switching mechanism in graphene-based nanojunctions through metastable structural transformations.

Findings

Transmission ratio up to 10^4-10^5 achieved

Mechanical strain controls energy barriers and reaction character

Structural rearrangements encode binary ON/OFF states

Abstract

We report a theoretical study suggesting a novel type of electronic switching effect, driven by the geometrical reconstruction of nanoscale graphene-based junctions. We considered junction struc- tures which have alternative metastable configurations transformed by rotations of local carbon dimers. The use of external mechanical strain allows a control of the energy barrier heights of the potential profiles and also changes the reaction character from endothermic to exothermic or vice-versa. The reshaping of the atomic details of the junction encode binary electronic ON or OFF states, with ON/OFF transmission ratio that can reach up to 10^4-10^5. Our results suggest the possibility to design modern logical switching devices or mechanophore sensors, monitored by mechanical strain and structural rearrangements.