No Arabic abstract
We study the interplay between the edge states and a single impurity in a zigzag graphene nanoribbon. We use tight-binding exact diagonalization techniques, as well as density functional theory calculations to obtain the eigenvalue spectrum, the eigenfunctions, as well the dependence of the local density of states (LDOS) on energy and position. We note that roughly half of the unperturbed eigenstates in the spectrum of the finite-size ribbon hybridize with the impurity state, and the corresponding eigenvalues are shifted with respect to their unperturbed values. The maximum shift and hybridization occur for a state whose energy is inverse proportional to the impurity potential; this energy is that of the impurity peak in the DOS spectrum. We find that the interference between the impurity and the edge gives rise to peculiar modifications of the LDOS of the nanoribbon, in particular to oscillations of the edge LDOS. These effects depend on the size of the system, and decay with the distance between the edge and the impurity.
We investigate the interplay between the edge and bulk states, induced by the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, in a zigzag silicene nanoribbon in the presence of an external electric field. The interplay can be divided into two kinds, one is the interplay between the edge and bulk states with opposite velocities, and the other is that with the same velocity direction. The former can open small direct spin-dependent subgaps. A spin-polarized current can be generated in the nanoribbon as the Fermi energy is in the subgaps. While the later can give rise to the spin precession in the nanoribbon. Therefore, the zigzag silicene nanoribbon can be used as an efficient spin filter and spin modulation device.
We prescribe general rules to predict the existence of edge states and zero-energy flat bands in graphene nanoribbons and graphene edges of arbitrary shape. No calculations are needed. For the so-called {it{minimal}} edges, the projection of the edge translation vector into the zigzag direction of graphene uniquely determines the edge bands. By adding extra nodes to minimal edges, arbitrary modified edges can be obtained. The edge bands of modified graphene edges can be found by applying hybridization rules of the extra atoms with the ones belonging to the original edge. Our prescription correctly predicts the localization and degeneracy of the zero-energy bands at one of the graphene sublattices, confirmed by tight-binding and first-principle calculations. It also allows us to qualitatively predict the existence of $E e 0$ bands appearing in the energy gap of certain edges and nanoribbons.
An intense laser field in the high-frequency regime drives carriers in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) out of equilibrium and creates topologically-protected edge states. Using Floquet theory on driven GNRs, we calculate the time evolution of local excitations of these edge states and show that they exhibit a robust dynamics also in the presence of very localized lattice defects (atomic vacancies), which is characteristic of topologically non-trivial behavior. We show how it is possible to control them by a modulated electrostatic potential: They can be fully transmitted on the same edge, reflected on the opposite one, or can be split between the two edges, in analogy with Hall edge states, making them promising candidates for flying-qubit architectures.
In this article, we report band structure studies of zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) on introducing defects (sp_3 hybridized carbon atoms) in different concentrations at edges by varying the ratio of sp_3 to sp_2 hybridized carbon atoms. On the basis of theoretical analyses, band gap values of ZGNRs are found to be strongly dependent on relative arrangement of sp3 to sp2 hybridized carbon atoms at the edges for a defect concentration; so the findings would greatly help in understanding band gap of nanoribbons for their electronic applications.
We report on nano-infrared (IR) imaging studies of confined plasmon modes inside patterned graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) fabricated with high-quality chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) graphene on Al2O3 substrates. The confined geometry of these ribbons leads to distinct mode patterns and strong field enhancement, both of which evolve systematically with the ribbon width. In addition, spectroscopic nano-imaging in mid-infrared 850-1450 cm-1 allowed us to evaluate the effect of the substrate phonons on the plasmon damping. Furthermore, we observed edge plasmons: peculiar one-dimensional modes propagating strictly along the edges of our patterned graphene nanostructures.