Staggered potential and magnetic field tunable electronic switch in a kagome nanoribbon junction

Abstract

We propose a possible electronic switch on a two dimensional (2D) kagome lattice by applying a perpendicular inhomogeneous magnetic field and a staggered sublattice potential. By means of the tight-binding lattice model and the non-equilibrium Green’s function method, we calculate the quantum Hall conductance of the device at zero temperature limit. The numerical results demonstrate that when a staggered lattice potential is considered, the conventional integer Hall effect is changed into discrete fractional conductance peaks, and a finite energy gap can be opened in the system, which may induce a metal-insulator transition and can be designed as a 2D electronic valve. The conductance valve phenomena mainly come from the interplay between the asymmetry energy band induced by the magnetic field and a band gap opened by the staggered potential. The ON(OFF) state of the electron transport is efficiently controlled by the device parameters such as the magnetic field, the staggered lattice potential and the Fermi level. Our findings might be useful for designing efficient current valves in 2D nano-electronic devices.