Electronic transport through bilayer graphene flakes

Abstract

We investigate the electronic transport properties of a bilayer graphene flake contacted by two monolayer nanoribbons. Such a finite-size bilayer flake can be built by overlapping two semi-infinite ribbons or by depositing a monolayer flake onto an infinite nanoribbon. These two structures have a complementary behavior that we study and analyze by means of a tight-binding method and a continuum Dirac model. We have found that for certain energy ranges and geometries, the conductance of these systems oscillates markedly between zero and the maximum value of the conductance, allowing for the design of electromechanical switches. Our understanding of the electronic transmission through bilayer flakes may provide a way to measure the interlayer hopping in bilayer graphene.