All-carbon sp-sp2 hybrid structures: Geometrical properties, current rectification, and current amplification

All-carbon sp-sp(2) hybrid structures comprised of a zigzag-edged trigonal graphene (ZTG) and carbon chains are proposed and constructed as nanojunctions. It has been found that such simple hybrid structures possess very intriguing propertiesapp:addword: intriguing. The high-performance rectifying behaviors similar to macroscopic p-n junction diodes, such as a nearly linear positive-bias I-V curve (metallic behavior), a very small leakage current under negative bias (insulating behavior), a rather low threshold voltage, and a large bias region contributed to a rectification, can be predicted. And also, a transistor can be built by such a hybrid structure, which can show an extremely high current amplification. This is because a sp-hybrid carbon chain has a special electronic structure which can limit the electronic resonant tunneling of the ZTG to a unique and favorable situation. These results suggest that these hybrid structures might promise importantly potential applications for developing nano-scale integrated circuits.