Abstract
Using the partition-free time-dependent Landauer–Büttiker formalism for transient current correlations, we study the traversal times taken for electrons to cross graphene nanoribbon (GNR) molecular junctions. We demonstrate electron traversal signatures that vary with disorder and orientation of the GNR. These findings can be related to operational frequencies of GNR-based devices and their consequent rational design.
Highlights
A fundamental property limiting the operational frequency of a molecular device is the traversal time τtr for electronic information to cross between the nanojunction terminals [1]
Much debate has centred around the correct definition of the traversal time through a generic potential barrier [4,5,6], as well as the relation of this quantity to the dwell time [7], the Larmor clock time [8,9], the group delay time [10], or to a generic description of probability distributions via path integrals [11,12]
We demonstrate that the traversal time has a clearer signature in armchair-oriented GNR (AGNR) than in ZGNR
Summary
A fundamental property limiting the operational frequency of a molecular device is the traversal time τtr for electronic information to cross between the nanojunction terminals [1]. All the aforementioned times are defined in terms of the transmission probability, potential and incident energy of electrons moving in a static scattering theory picture [13], so that a theory which takes strong time-dependence into account is still needed. This is crucial for the understanding of laser-stimulated tunnelling processes and related to the problem of tunnelling times in strong field ionisation experiments [14,15,16]. This does not happen with nearest neighbour hopping disorder as hopping between different sublattices is by construction the same in both directions [33,38,39,40])
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
