Resonant tunneling and intrinsic bistability in twisted graphene structures

Abstract

We predict that vertical transport in heterostructures formed by twisted graphene layers can exhibit a unique bistability mechanism. Intrinsically bistable I-V characteristics arise from resonant tunneling and interlayer charge coupling, enabling multiple stable states in the sequential tunneling regime. We consider a simple trilayer architecture, with the outer layers acting as the source and drain and the middle layer floating. Under bias, the middle layer can be either resonant or nonresonant with the source and drain layers. The bistability is controlled by geometric device parameters easily tunable in experiments. The nanoscale architecture can enable uniquely fast switching times.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant No. DMR-1004147)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (STC Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, NSF Grant No. DMR- 1231319)United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences (Center for Excitonics, an Energy Frontier Research Center, Award No. DE-SC0001088