Rectifying regularity for a combined nanostructure of two trigonal graphenes with different edge modifications

The metal- or nonmetal-terminated left zigzag-edge trigonal graphene (M-LTGN or NM-LTGN) is linked to the H-terminated right zigzag-edge trigonal graphene (H-RTGN) through their vertex atoms wholly attached onto Au electrodes to construct nanojunctions. Calculated results show that their rectifying behaviors have very interesting regularities: the rectifying directions for M-LTGN/H-RTGN nanojunction and NM-LTGN/H-RTGN nanojunction are opposite, and the stronger the nonmetallic (metallic) behavior for atom terminated at edge of the LTGN, the larger its rectification ratio for a forward (reverse) rectification. The intrinsic mechanism for these features can be attributed to a Schottky barrier on interface when they are combined due to the charge shifting doping between them. Findings unveiled here are of importance for achieving a profound understanding and developing nanoelectronic devices on the TGN functionalized by edge modification. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.