Tunable Electronic Structure and Properties of h-BN Nanomaterials Under Elastic Strain

Among many two-dimensional materials, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanomaterials have attracted great attention due to their unique properties and potential applications. In this work, BN-related nanosheets, nanoribbons, and nanotubes are studied by density functional theory. Using energy band engineering, external strain and stacking are introduced into the above materials to tune the band gap. The modulation of the band gap of the BN sheet is linear under strain, and is reduced from 5.456 eV to 3.915 eV. At the same width of zigzag nanoribbons, the change in band gap is close to 3 eV when strain is applied, which will have potential applications in electronics, optoelectronics, stress sensors, and so on.

Automated summary

In this study, the band gap of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanomaterials was manipulated using density functional theory. The results showed that applying strain can potentially lead to applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and stress sensors.