Length-Dependent Electron Transport Properties of Defective Silicene Nanoribbons

Electronic and transport properties of realistic silicene nanoribbons (SiNRs) with edge defects are investigated in detail by using statistical atomistic quantum transport simulations based on the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism. We investigate the influence of SiNR width, length, and edge defect density on several parameters relevant for nanoscale device applications, including transport gap, conductance and intrinsic switching capability, mean free path and localization length. Most importantly, we find that ≈2 nm-wide defective SiNRs with lengths in the 13 nm to 28 nm range are a promising channel material for field-effect transistors at this scale, additionally avoiding the localization transport regime and achieving a variability of 12% to 20% even in the worst case.