Electric field tunable negative differential resistance in zigzag phosphorene nanoribbons

The current-voltage characteristics and negative differential resistance of zigzag phosphorene nanoribbons are investigated in this paper. The origin of the negative differential resistance behaviour is explained by the inspection of the transmission eigenstates. Moreover, it is shown that the current-voltage characteristics and the negative differential resistance value can be changed by applying a perpendicular electric field thanks to the buckled structure of phosphorene nanoribbons. It is concluded that this peculiar electronically tunable differential resistance characteristics of phosphorene nanoribbons can be utilized in electronically controlled oscillator circuits in the near future nanoelectronics technology.