Strain-Engineering the Anisotropic Electrical Conductance of Few-Layer Black Phosphorus

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 2884 - 2889
• Main Authors: Fei, Ruixiang, Yang, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 14.05.2014
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Conductance; Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronics; Energy gaps (solid state); Exact sciences and technology; Mathematical analysis; Phosphorus; Physics; Quantum Hall effect; Strain; strain; anisotropic conductance; Black phosphorus; effective mass; phosphorene; Free carrier; Energy gap; Electronic properties; Anisotropy; Digital simulation; Monolayers; Electrical conductance; Uniaxial strain; Phosphorus; Quantum Hall effect; Carrier mobility
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl500935z

Newly fabricated few-layer black phosphorus and its monolayer structure, phosphorene, are expected to be promising for electronic and optical applications because of their finite direct band gaps and sizable but anisotropic electronic mobility. By first-principles simulations, we show that this unique anisotropic free-carrier mobility can be controlled by using simple strain conditions. With the appropriate biaxial or uniaxial strain (4–6%), we can rotate the preferred conducting direction by 90°. This will be useful for exploring unusual quantum Hall effects and exotic electronic and mechanical applications based on phosphorene.