Rectifying performance in zigzag graphene nanoribbon heterojunctions with different edge hydrogenations

Using nonequilibrium Green's functions in combination with the density functional theory, we investigated the electronic transport behaviors of zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) heterojunctions with different edge hydrogenations. The results show that electronic transport properties of ZGNR heterojunctions can be modulated by hydrogenations, and prominent rectification effects can be observed. We propose that the edge dihydrogenation leads to a blocking of electronic transfer, as well as the changes of the distribution of the frontier orbital at negative/positive bias might be responsible for the rectification effects. These results may be helpful for designing practical devices based on graphene nanoribbons. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.