Electronic structures of strained MoS2 nanoribbons

The density functional theory (DFT) is carried out to predict the strain effect on the electronic structure of MoS₂ nanoribbons with armchair-terminated edges (AMoS₂NRs). It is found that horizontal compressive strain along the one-dimensional nanoscale periodic direction modifies the indirect band gap into the direct one. But it needs larger compressive strain to make 4-AMoS₂NR direct band gap semiconductor. By contrast, tensile strain cannot render bandgap direct. 5% compressive strain and tensile strain both reduce the band gap of AMoS₂NRs except 4- AMoS₂NR. The compressive strain reduces the carrier effective mass of AMoS₂NRs.