Unconventional Strain-Dependent Conductance Oscillations in Pristine Phosphorene

Abstract: Phosphorene is a single elemental two-dimensional semiconductor that has quickly emerged as a high mobility material for transistors and optoelectronic devices. In addition, being a 2D material, it can sustain high levels of strain, enabling sensitive modification of its electronic properties. In this paper, we investigate the strain dependent electrical properties of phosphorene nanocrystals. Performing extensive calculations we determine electrical conductance as a function uniaxial as well as biaxial strain stimulus, and uncover a unique zone phase diagram. This enables us to uncover for the first time conductance oscillations in pristine phopshorene, by simple application of strain. We show that how such unconventional current-voltage behaviour is tuneable by the nature of strain, and how an additional gate voltage can modulate amplitude (peak to valley ratio) of the observed phenomena and its switching efficiency. Furthermore, we show that the switching is highly robust against doping and defects. Our detailed results present new leads for innovations in strain based gauging and high-frequency nanoelectronic switches of phosphorene.