Stacking and electric field effects in atomically thin layers of GaN

• Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2013-08, Vol.25 (34), p.345302-345302
• Main Authors: Xu, Dongwei, He, Haiying, Pandey, Ravindra, Karna, Shashi P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electric fields; Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems; Electronic properties; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Exact sciences and technology; Gallium nitrides; Multilayers; Nitrides; Physics; Stacking; Thin films; Thin films and multilayers
• ISSN: 0953-8984; 1361-648X
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/25/34/345302

Atomically thin layers of nitrides are a subject of interest due to their novel applications. In this paper, we focus on GaN multilayers, investigating their stability and the effects of stacking and electric fields on their electronic properties in the framework of density functional theory. Both bilayers and trilayers prefer a planar configuration rather than a buckled bulk-like configuration. The application of an external perpendicular electric field induces distinct stacking-dependent features in the electronic properties of nitride multilayers: the band gap of a monolayer does not change whereas that of a trilayer is significantly reduced. Such a stacking-dependent tunability of the band gap in the presence of an applied field suggests that multilayer GaN is a good candidate material for next generation devices at the nanoscale.