Intrinsic giant Stark effect of boron-carbon-nitride nanoribbons with zigzag edges

TL;DR

This study investigates the electronic properties of zigzag boron-carbon-nitride nanoribbons, revealing an intrinsic giant Stark effect influenced by hydrogenation and stacking order, with potential tunability via external electric fields.

Contribution

It demonstrates the intrinsic giant Stark effect in BCN nanoribbons and explores how hydrogenation and stacking order affect this phenomenon, providing insights for electronic device applications.

Findings

BCN nanoribbons are metallic with bands crossing the Fermi level.

The nearly free electron state appears due to the intrinsic giant Stark effect.

Hydrogenation of nitrogen is essential for the Stark effect to manifest.

Abstract

Electronic properties of zigzag boron-carbon-nitride (BCN) nanoribbons, where the outermost C atoms on the edges of graphene nanoribbons are replaced by B or N atoms, are theoretically studied using the first-principles calculations. We show that BCN nanoribbons are metallic, since several bands cross the Fermi level. For BCN nanoribbons in a rich H$_2$ environment, the so-called nearly free electron state appears just above the Fermi level because of the intrinsic giant Stark effect due to the internal electric field of a transverse dipole moment. The position of the nearly free electron state can be controlled by applying an electric field parallel to the dipole moment. The hydrogenation of the nitrogen atom is necessary for the appearance of the giant Stark effect in BCN nanoribbons. We also discuss the effect of stacking order on the intrinsic giant Stark effect in bilayer BCN nanoribbons.