Effect of electromagnetic radiation on the electronic and thermoelectric properties of armchair edge silicene nanoribbons

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the influence of electromagnetic radiation on the electronic and thermoelectric properties of armchair edge silicene nanoribbons. Specifically, we study the effects of varying the polarization (s or p) and incident angle (0, 30, 45, 60, and 90°) of radiation on the band structure, transmission function, density of states, Seebeck coefficient, and electronic figure of merit (ZTe) of the nanoribbons. Our results demonstrate that the electronic properties are highly dependent on radiation conditions due to their influence on electron transport. We find that the transmission function and density of states exhibit distinct polarization-dependent behaviors that highlight the role of the radiation's electric field orientation. Importantly, the ZTe shows significant modulation with the incident angle for both polarizations, achieving optimized values up to 0.18. These findings provide insights into controlling the electronic and thermoelectric properties of silicene nanoribbons using electromagnetic radiation. Our work underscores opportunities for developing silicene-based nanophotonic devices with enhanced performance through all-optical means. The demonstrated tunability via irradiation paves the way for potential applications such as optical switches, sensors, and next-generation optoelectronics using silicene nanoribbons.