Bandgap engineering in aperiodic Thue-Morse graphene superlattices

Abstract

The lack of bandgap in graphene is the main factor that prevents that this outstanding material be implemented in optoelectronics. In this work, we show that by nanostructuring graphene aperiodically it is possible to have an efficient transmission bandgap engineering. In particular, we are considering aperiodic graphene superlattices in which electrostatic barriers are arranged following the basic construction rules of the Thue-Morse sequence. We find that the transmission bandgap can be modulated readily by changing the angle of incidence as well as by appropriately choosing the generation of the Thue-Morse superlattice. Even, this angle-dependent bandgap engineering is more effective than the corresponding one for periodic graphene superlattices.