Theoretical and Natural Science
- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences
Theoretical and Natural Science
Vol. 39, 21 June 2024
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Evaluating graphene nanoribbons for miniaturization of field effect transistors: A density functional theory study
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Abstract
For the past 60 years, the number of silicon transistors — the building blocks of integrated circuits — that can be packed onto a microchip has doubled every two years. This phenomenon, famously termed Moore’s Law, has driven technological progress. However, this trajectory is approaching a barrier known as the “Silicon limit.” At sizes below a certain threshold, the efficiency of silicon diminishes, posing a challenge to continued miniaturization. Thus, the development of novel transistor materials has become a critical step towards realizing ‘beyond-silicon nano-electronics’. Graphene, a two-dimensional material composed of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, has risen to prominence as a potential way forward in the field of nano-electronic devices due to its numerous advantages, including high electron and hole mobilities, an atom-thin structure, and the ease of doping to enhance conductivity. However, the lack of a band gap in graphene poses a significant challenge in designing efficient nano-electronic devices. While cutting graphene into nanoribbons can open a band gap, further scaling down graphene nanoribbons will be difficult and costly. Therefore, alternative approaches to further enlarging the band gap based on the current size scale are essential. In this study, we propose a novel method to successfully increase the band gap of 7-armchair nanoribbons by introducing the pre-designed shape of cutting. Additionally, by further manipulating the cutting shape, we also propose a method to increase carrier’s mobility while retaining the band gap. These findings represent a significant advancement in optimizing the electrical performance of future carbon-based transistors. The utilization of pre-designed cutting shapes offers a flexible approach to tailor device performance according to specific requirements, thereby enhancing the versatility and functionality of carbon-based electronic devices.
Keywords
Graphene, Nanoscale, DFT, ab initio, nanoribbons, gFET
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Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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- Volume Title
- Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Mathematical Physics and Computational Simulation
- ISBN (Print)
- 978-1-83558-463-7
- ISBN (Online)
- 978-1-83558-464-4
- Published Date
- 21 June 2024
- Series
- Theoretical and Natural Science
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-8818
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-8826
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-8818/39/20240579
- Copyright
- 21 June 2024
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited