Graphene Nanoribbons and Their Electronic Transport Properties

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are narrow strips of graphene whose electronic characteristics are strongly governed by quantum confinement and edge topology. Depending on whether the edges adopt an armchair or zigzag orientation, GNRs exhibit semiconducting or metallic behaviour, respectively, and can support localized edge states that influence charge and spin transport. The width of a ribbon sets its bandgap, enabling tunable electronic conduction from insulating through semiconducting to ballistic regimes. Electronic transport in GNRs is often studied through first-principles modelling, combining density functional theory with non-equilibrium Green’s functions to capture coherent and inelastic scattering processes. Edge modification—through hydrogenation, heteroatom substitution or vacancy defects—permits fine-tuning of band alignment, rectification and negative differential resistance. The interplay of spin polarisation at zigzag edges and engineered defects has opened routes to half-metallicity and perfect spin filtering, making GNRs promising for nanoscale diodes, spin valves and logic devices. Recent advances have focused on reproducible fabrication, reliable contact engineering and the demonstration of high rectification ratios, offering prospects for integrating GNRs into low-power electronics and spintronic architectures.

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Technical terms

Graphene nanoribbon (GNR): A narrow strip of graphene whose width and edge orientation determine its electronic band structure and transport properties.

Edge hydrogenation: The chemisorption of hydrogen atoms at ribbon edges, used to modulate bandgap and suppress or enable edge states.

Negative differential resistance (NDR): A phenomenon in which current decreases with increasing voltage beyond a threshold, enabling oscillator and memory applications.

Non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF): A theoretical formalism for calculating charge transport under bias, capturing quantum coherence and scattering.

Spin filtering: The preferential transmission of electrons with one spin orientation, leading to spin-polarised currents.

Half-metallicity: A state in which one spin channel is metallic and the other is insulating, yielding 100% spin polarisation at the Fermi level.

References

1. Rectifying performance in zigzag graphene nanoribbon heterojunctions with different edge hydrogenations. Physics Letters A (2013).
2. First principles design of divacancy defected graphene nanoribbon based rectifying and negative differential resistance device. AIP Advances (2015).
3. A high performance N-doped graphene nanoribbon based spintronic device applicable with a wide range of adatoms. Nanoscale Advances (2020).