Electronic transport of folded graphene nanoribbons

TL;DR

This paper studies how folding graphene nanoribbons affects their electronic conductance, revealing that certain foldings cause oscillations while others minimally perturb conductance, impacting nanoelectronic device design.

Contribution

It introduces a model for folded graphene nanoribbons considering curvature and contact angles, analyzing their distinct electronic transport behaviors.

Findings

Conductance oscillates in hairpin foldings depending on contact coupling.

60° foldings cause minimal conductance perturbation.

Folding geometry influences graphene nanoelectronic connectivity.

Abstract

We investigate the electronic transport properties of a folded graphene nanoribbon with monolayer nanoribbon contacts. We consider two possible foldings: either the nanoribbon can be folded onto itself in the shape of a hairpin with the nanoribbon leads at a $0^\circ$ angle, or the monolayer contacts have different directions, forming a $60^\circ$ angle. The system is described by a single $\pi$-band nearest-neighbor tight-binding Hamiltonian taking into account curvature effects. We have found that for the case of a nanoribbon folded over itself the conductance oscillates from almost zero and a finite value depending on the coupling between contacts, whereas in the $60^\circ$ angle folding the conductance is only slightly perturbed, allowing for the connection of graphene nanoelectronic components in a variety of geometries.