Published in J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 30, 055703 (2018).
Magnitude of the Current in Two-Dimensional Interlayer Tunneling Devices
Randall M. Feenstra,1 Sergio C. de la Barrera,1 Jun Li,1 Yifan Nie,2 and Kyeongjae Cho2
1Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080
Abstract
Using the Bardeen tunneling method with first-principles wave functions, computations are made of the tunneling current in graphene / hexagonal-boron-nitride / graphene (G/h-BN/G) vertical structures. Detailed comparison with prior experimental results is made, focusing on the magnitude of the achievable tunnel current. With inclusion of the effects of translational and rotational misalignment of the graphene and the h-BN, predicted currents are found to be about 15x larger than experimental values. A reduction in this discrepancy, to a factor of 2.5x, is achieved by utilizing a realistic size for the band gap of the h-BN, hence affecting the exponential decay constant for the tunneling.
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