Disorder-induced variability of transport properties of sub-5 nm-wide graphene nanoribbons

Transport properties of sub-5 nm-wide graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are investigated by using atomistic non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) simulations and semiclassical mobility simulations of large ensembles of randomly generated nanoribbons. Realistic GNRs with dimensions targeting the 12 nm CMOS node are investigated by accounting for edge defects, vacancies and potential fluctuations. Effects of disorder on transmission, transport gap, mean free path, density of states and acoustic phonon limited carrier mobility are explored for various disorder strengths and GNR widths in the 1-5 nm range. We report the high variability of GNR transport properties that could be a strong limiter for potential nanoelectronics applications of GNRs. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.