A computational study of electronic structures of graphene allotropes with electrical bias, 2011
Nathaniel, James Edward, II
2010-2019
Graphene is a two-dimensional system consisting of a single planar layer of carbon atoms with hexagonal arrangement. Various approaches have been proposed to control its physical and electronic properties. When appropriately cut, rolled, and bonded, graphene generates single-walled carbon nanotubes of varying diameters. Graphite intercalation compounds are materials formed by inserting molecular layers of compounds between stacked sheets of graphene. We have studied the physical and electronic responses of two graphene layers intercalated with FeCl3 and of metallic, semi-metallic and semiconducting nanotubes when normally biased using electric fields of various magnitudes. By means of first-principles density functional calculations, our results indicate that the band structures of the aforementioned graphene structures are modified upon application of a bias voltage. In the case of nanotubes, electric biasing allows tuning of the band gap leading to a transition from semiconducting to metallic state, or vice versa. In the case of the FeCl3 intercalant compounds, electric biasing results in shifting of the Dirac point.
text
application/pdf
2011-12-01
thesis
Master of Science (MS)
Clark Atlanta University
School of Arts and Sciences, Physics
Wang, Xiao-Qian
Georgia--Atlanta
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2011_nathaniel_james_e_ii
