Strain engineering on the electronic states of two-dimensional GaN/graphene heterostructure.

Combining two different layered structures to form a van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure has recently emerged as an intriguing way of designing electronic and optoelectronic devices. Effects of the strain on the electronic properties of GaN/graphene heterostructure are investigated by using first-principles calculation. In the GaN/graphene heterostructure, the strain can control not only the Schottky barrier, but also contact types at the interface. Moreover, when the uniaxial strain is above -1% or the biaxial strain is above 0%, the contact type transforms to ohmic contact. These results provide a detailed understanding of the interfacial properties of GaN/graphene and help to predict the performance of the GaN/graphene heterostructure on nanoelectronics and nanocomposites.