Tunable gap in stable arsenene nanoribbons opens the door to electronic applications

Abstract

Arsenic has been predicted to present significantly more diverse 2D phases than other elementalcompounds like graphene. While practical applications must be based onfinite arsenene samples, likenanoribbons, theory has so far focused on the infinite sheet. Ourab initiosimulations show the clearcontrast between the properties of arsenene nanoribbons and those of the monolayer, ranging fromphase stability to electronic structure. We include nanoribbons derived from the buckled, puckered andsquare/octagon structures of bulk arsenene. Theflexibility afforded by different parent structures, widthsand edge passivations leads to a rich variety of semiconducting structures with tunable gaps