Tunable band gap and doping type in silicene by surface adsorption: towards tunneling transistors

Abstract

By using first-principles calculations, we predict that a sizable band gap can be opened at the Dirac point of silicene without degrading silicene's electronic properties with n-type doping by Cu, Ag, and Au adsorption, p-type doping by Ir adsorption, and neutral doping by Pt adsorption. A silicene p–i–n tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) model is designed by the adsorption of different transition metal atoms on different regions of silicene. Quantum transport simulations demonstrate that silicene TFETs have an on–off ratio of 10³, a small sub-threshold swing of 77 mV dec⁻¹, and a large on-state current of over 1 mA μm⁻¹ under a supply voltage of about 1.7 V.