Controlling the energy gap of graphene by Fermi velocity engineering

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that modulating the Fermi velocity in graphene with a periodic pattern can effectively control its energy gap, offering a novel method for tuning graphene's electronic properties for device applications.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach to control graphene's energy gap through Fermi velocity engineering, which had not been reported before.

Findings

Fermi velocity modulation alters miniband dispersion.

Energy gap can be tuned by Fermi velocity engineering.

Potential for improved graphene-based device fabrication.

Abstract

The electronic structure of a single-layer graphene with a periodic Fermi velocity modulation is investigated by using an effective Dirac-like Hamiltonian. In a gapless graphene or in a graphene with a constant energy gap the modulation of the Fermi velocity, as expected, only changes the dispersion between energy and moment, turning the minibands narrower or less narrow than in the usual graphene depending on how the Fermi velocity is modulated and the energy gap remains the same. However, with a modulated energy gap it is possible to control the energy gap of graphene by Fermi velocity engineering. This is based on a very simple idea that has never been reported so far. The results obtained here reveal a new way of controlling the energy gap of graphene, which can be used in the fabrication of graphene-based devices.