By computing spin-polarized electronic transport across a finite zigzag graphene ribbon bridging two metallic graphene electrodes, we demonstrate, as a proof of principle, that devices featuring 100% magnetoresistance can be built entirely out of carbon. In the ground state a short zigzag ribbon is an antiferromagnetic insulator which, when connecting two metallic electrodes, acts as a tunnel barrier that suppresses the conductance. The application of a magnetic field makes the ribbon ferromagnetic and conductive, increasing dramatically the current between electrodes. We predict large magnetoresistance in this system at liquid nitrogen temperature and 10 T or at liquid helium temperature and 300 G.

We study the effect of a structural nanoconstriction on the coherent transport properties of otherwise ideal zigzag-edged infinitely long graphene ribbons. The electronic structure is calculated with the standard oneorbital tight-binding model and the linear conductance is obtained using the Landauer formula. We find that, since the zero-bias current is carried in the bulk of the ribbon, this is very robust with respect to a variety of constriction geometries and edge defects. In contrast, the curve of zero-bias conductance versus gate voltage departs from the ͑2n +1͒e 2 / h staircase of the ideal case as soon as a single atom is removed from the sample. We also find that wedge-shaped constrictions can present nonconducting states fully localized in the constriction close to the Fermi energy. The interest of these localized states in regards to the formation of quantum dots in graphene is discussed.

We show how hydrogenation of graphene nanoribbons at small concentrations can open venues toward carbon-based spintronics applications regardless of any specific edge termination or passivation of the nanoribbons. Density-functional theory calculations show that an adsorbed H atom induces a spin density on the surrounding orbitals whose symmetry and degree of localization depends on the distance to the edges of the nanoribbon. As expected for graphene-based systems, these induced magnetic moments interact ferromagnetically or antiferromagnetically depending on the relative adsorption graphene sublattice, but the magnitude of the interactions are found to strongly vary with the position of the H atoms relative to the edges. We also calculate, with the help of the Hubbard model, the transport properties of hydrogenated armchair semiconducting graphene nanoribbons in the diluted regime and show how the exchange coupling between H atoms can be exploited in the design of novel magnetoresistive devices.

The performance of field effect transistors based on an single graphene ribbon with a constriction and a single back gate are studied with the help of atomistic models. It is shown how this scheme, unlike that of traditional carbon-nanotube-based transistors, reduces the importance of the specifics of the chemical bonding to the metallic electrodes in favor of the carbon-based part of device. The ultimate performance limits are here studied for various constriction and metal-ribbon contact models. In particular, we show that, even for poorly contacting metals, properly tailored constrictions can give promising values for both the on conductance and the subthreshold swing.

A parametric Drude–Lorentz (DL) model is used to describe the spectral variation of the dielectric functions of bulk palladium samples at low and room temperature. In addition to the contribution of conduction electrons, the contribution of holes is also explicitly accounted for in the model. A simulated annealing method is applied to obtain the optimized values of the parameters involved in the model: volume plasma frequency of conduction electrons, high frequency dielectric constant, collision frequency of holes and corresponding relaxation time, and two additional parameters from which the effective mass of holes and collision frequency of conduction electrons are evaluated. Oscillatior strengths, resonance frequencies, and widths entering in the Lorentz contribution to the dielectric function are also optimized. Renormalization of the oscillator strengths requires the introduction of a new parameter in the context of the DL model: the ratio between number density of conduction electrons and number density of metal atoms, whose optimized value fits very well with its evaluation from band structure calculations and from independent measurements. Inclusion of this parameter in the framework allows us to evaluate additional quantities related to the charge-carrier transport: average effective masses, Fermi energies and electronic densities of states at the corresponding Fermi energies, intrinsic electrical resistivity, intrinsic mean free paths, heat capacities, mobilities, as well as paramagnetic and diamagnetic susceptibilities, for both electrons and holes. The optimized resonance frequencies are compared with energy differences between plausible interband transitions, in accordance with reported band structure diagrams and with our own band structure obtained from density functional theory calculations.

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