Stacking dependent electronic structure and transport in bilayer graphene nanoribbons

The stacking-dependent electronic structure and transport properties of bilayer graphene nanoribbons suspended between gold electrodes are investigated using density functional theory coupled with non-equilibrium Green's functional method. We find substantially enhanced electron transmission as well as tunneling currents in the AA stacking of bilayer nanoribbons compared to either single-layer or AB stacked bilayer nanoribbons. Interlayer separation between the nanoribbons appears to have a profound impact on the conducting features of the bilayer nanoribbons, which is found to be closely related to the topology and overlap between the edge-localized pi orbitals. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.