Effects of disorder and contacts on transport through graphene nanoribbons

TL;DR

This paper investigates how disorder and contacts influence charge transport in finite graphene nanoribbons, revealing significant effects on electronic properties relevant for device applications.

Contribution

It employs numerical techniques to analyze actual-sized graphene samples, extending beyond the Dirac-cone approximation, and studies the impact of disorder and contacts on transport properties.

Findings

Contacts and bulk disorder significantly affect electronic properties.

Disorder alters local density of states and conductance.

Interfaces influence spectral functions and optical conductivity.

Abstract

We study the transport of charge carriers through finite graphene structures. The use of numerical exact kernel polynomial and Green function techniques allows us to treat actual sized samples beyond the Dirac-cone approximation. Particularly we investigate disordered nanoribbons, normal-conductor/graphene interfaces and normal-conductor/graphene/normal-conductor junctions with a focus on the behavior of the local density of states, single-particle spectral function, optical conductivity and conductance. We demonstrate that the contacts and bulk disorder will have a major impact on the electronic properties of graphene-based devices.