Interface of graphene nanopore and hexagonal boron nitride as a sensing device

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electronic properties of graphene nanoroads embedded in hexagonal boron nitride, demonstrating their potential as highly sensitive nanoscale sensors for molecules and DNA sequences through conductance modulation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining density functional theory and Green's functions to analyze graphene-boron nitride heterostructures for sensing applications.

Findings

Graphene nanoribbon signatures are preserved in transmission spectra.

Local current is confined to the graphene domain.

Nanopores enable conductance sensitivity to passing molecules.

Abstract

The atomically-precise controlled synthesis of graphene stripes embedded in hexagonal boron nitride opens up new possibilities for the construction of nanodevices with applications in sensing. Here, we explore properties related to electronic structure and quantum transport of a graphene nanoroad embedded in hexagonal boron nitride, using a combination of density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green's functions method to calculate the electric conductance. We find that the graphene nanoribbon signature is preserved in the transmission spectra and that the local current is mainly confined to the graphene domain. When a properly sized nanopore is created in the graphene part of the system, the electronic current becomes restricted to a carbon chain running along the border with hexagonal boron nitride. This circumstance could allow the hypothetical nanodevice to become highly sensitive to the electronic nature of molecules passing through the nanopore, thus opening up ways for the detection of gas molecules, amino acids, or even DNA sequences based on a measurement of the real-time conductance modulation in the graphene nanoroad.