The rectifying effect of heterojunctions composed of carbon and boron nitride nanotubes

Abstract We investigate the electronic transport properties of several nanotube heterojunctions which are composed of carbon and boron nitride nanotubes (i.e., CNTs and BNNTs), using the non-equilibrium Green's function method combined with the density functional theory. The results reveal that, the pristine (n, n) and (n, 0) CNTs are metal and present the linear I–V curves, and the BNNTs are semiconductors and little current can be propagated through. While when the (n, n)CNT and (n, n)BNNT are combined into a heterojunction, it displays a perfect rectifying effect. When different types of CNTs (i.e., (n, 0) and (n, n) CNTs) are combined into a heterojunction, its I–V curve still presents a linear behavior. Interestingly, however, if the outside surface of the (n, n) CNT is fluorinated to tune its electronic structures, it will display a perfect rectifying effect. These proposed nanotube heterojunctions have a significant potential value in the field of nano rectifiers.