A. R. Rocha

Quantum Conductance in Silver Nanowires: correlation between atomic structure and transport properties

We have analyzed the atomic arrangements and quantum conductance of silver nanowires generated by mechanical elongation. The surface properties of Ag induce unexpected structural properties, as for example, predominance of high aspect ratio rod-like wires. The structural behavior was used to understand the Ag quantum conductance data and the proposed correlation was confirmed by means of theoretical calculations. These results emphasize that the conductance of metal point contacts is determined by the preferred atomic structures and, that atomistic descriptions are essential to interpret the quantum transport behavior of metal nanostructures.

Ab Initio Calculations of Structural Evolution and Conductance of Benzene-1,4-dithiol on Gold Leads

By performing ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations and electronic transport simulations based on the DFT nonequilibrium Greens functions method we investigate how the conformational changes of a benzene-1,4-dithiol molecule bonded to gold affect the molecular transport as the electrodes are separated from each other. In particular we consider the full evolution of the stretching process until the junction breaking point and compare results obtained with a standard semilocal exchange and correlation functional to those computed with a self-interaction corrected method. We conclude that the inclusion of self-interaction corrections is fundamental for describing both the molecule conductance and its stability against conformational fluctuations.

Functionalized Nanopore-Embedded Electrodes for Rapid DNA Sequencing

With the aim of improving nanopore-based DNA sequencing, we explored the effects of functionalizing the embedded gold electrodes with purine and pyrimidine molecules. Hydrogen bonds formed between the molecular probe and target bases stabilize the scanned DNA unit against thermal fluctuations and thus greatly reduce noise in the current signal. The results of our first-principles study indicate that this proposed scheme could allow DNA sequencing with a robust and reliable yield, producing current signals that differ by at least 1 order of magnitude for the different bases.

Strain- and electric field-induced band gap modulation in nitride nanomembranes

The hexagonal nanomembranes of the group III-nitrides are a subject of interest due to their novel technological applications. In this paper, we investigate the strain- and electric field-induced modulation of their band gaps in the framework of density functional theory. For AlN, the field-dependent modulation of the bandgap is found to be significant whereas the strain-induced semiconductor-metal transition is predicted for GaN. A relatively flat conduction band in AlN and GaN nanomembranes leads to an enhancement of their electronic mobility compared to that of their bulk counterparts.

Energetics and stability of vacancies in carbon nanotubes

In this work we present ab initio calculations of the formation energies and stability of different types of multi-vacancies in carbon nanotubes. We demonstrate that, as in the case of graphene, the reconstruction of the defects has drastic effects on the energetics of the tubes. In particular, the formation of pentagons eliminates the dangling bonds thus lowering the formation energy. This competition leads to vacancies having an even number of carbon atoms removed to be more stable. Finally the appearance of magic numbers indicating more stable defects can be represented by a model for the formation energies that is based on the number of dangling bonds of the unreconstructed system, the pentagons and the relaxation of the final form of the defect formed after the relaxation.

The effects of water molecules on the electronic and structural properties of peptide nanotubes

The self-assembly of short amino acid chains appears to be one of the most promising strategies for the fabrication of nanostructures. Their solubility in water and the possibility of chemical modification by targeting the amino or carboxyl terminus give peptide-based nanostructures several advantages over carbon nanotube nanostructures. However, because these systems are synthesized in aqueous solution, a deeper understanding is needed on the effects of water especially with respect to the electronic, structural and transport properties. In this work, the electronic properties of L-diphenylalanine nanotubes (FF-NTs) have been studied using the Self-Consistent Charge Density-Functional-based Tight-Binding method augmented with dispersion interaction. The presence of water molecules in the central hydrophilic channel and their interaction with the nanostructures are addressed. We demonstrate that the presence of water leads to significant changes in the electronic properties of these systems decreasing the band gap which can lead to an increase in the hopping probability and the conductivity.

Conductance Oscillations in Zigzag Platinum Chains.

Using first principles simulations we perform a detailed study of the structural, electronic, and transport properties of monatomic platinum chains, sandwiched between platinum electrodes. First, we demonstrate that the most stable atomic configuration corresponds to a zigzag arrangement that gradually straightens as the chains are stretched. Second, we find that the averaged conductance shows slight parity oscillations with the number of atoms in the chain. Additionally, the conductance of chains of fixed oscillates as the end atoms are pulled apart, due to the gradual closing and opening of conductance channels as the chain straightens.

Single channel conductance of H2 molecules attached to platinum or palladium electrodes

We report a detailed theoretical study of the bonding and conduction properties of an hydrogen molecule joining either platinum or palladium electrodes. We show that an atomic arrangement where the molecule is placed perpendicular to the electrodes is unstable for all distances between electrodes. In contrast, the configuration where the molecule bridges the electrodes is stable in a wide range of distances. In this last case the bonding state of the molecule does not hybridize with the leads and remains localized within the junction. As a result, this state does not transmit charge so that electronic transport is carried only through the antibonding state. This fact leads to conductances of

Asymmetric I-V characteristics and magnetoresistance in magnetic point contacts

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Theoretical assessment of feasibility to sequence DNA through interlayer electronic tunneling transport at aligned nanopores in bilayer graphene.

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