Gate field induced electronic current modulation in a single wall boron nitride nanotube: Molecular scale field effect transistor

We report a first-principles quantum transport study in a single wall boron nitride nanotube sandwiched between a pair of gold electrodes. The non-equilibrium Green’s function approach, in which the electric field effect is explicitly included within a many body framework, is used to calculate the channel current, I sd , in the presence of a transverse gate field, E g . The E g is found to have a profound effect on the electronic current between the source and drain – revealing transistor behavior. The significant modulation in electronic current (ON–OFF current ratio of ∼ 18 at V sd of 3 V) is attributed to the giant Stark shift caused by the gate field.