BN-Embedded Graphene with a Ubiquitous Gap Opening

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C Vol. 116; no. 39; pp. 21098 - 21103
• Main Authors: Zhao, Ruiqi, Wang, Jinying, Yang, Mingmei, Liu, Zhongfan, Liu, Zhirong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbus, OH American Chemical Society 04.10.2012
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic structure of nanoscale materials : clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Exact sciences and technology; Fullerenes and related materials; diamonds, graphite; Materials science; Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Physics; Specific materials; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Electronic properties; Symmetry property; Quantum dots; Nanotape; Zigzag structure; Carbon; Quantum size effect; Energy gap; Electronic structure; Graphene; Superlattices; Scaling laws; Nanostructured materials
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp306660x

The electronic structures of BN-embedded graphene (BNG) were theoretically studied. A nonzero gap was found to exist in BNG regardless of the edge structures (zigzag/armchair) and the symmetries of the superlattice and BN quantum dots (QDs). The size of the gap is mainly determined by the width of the carbon wall between neighboring BN QDs. It is insensitive to the size of BN QDs, and thus obeys a universal scaling law. This significant and stable energy gap renders BNG as a promising way to control the electronic properties of graphene. The comparison with graphene antidot lattices and nanoribbons was also provided.