Bandgap oscillation in quasiperiodic carbon-BN nanoribbons

• We study quasiperiodic BCN nanoribbons following a Fibonacci sequence.
• Using first-principle calculations the density of states was determined.
• The electronic specific heat and energy band gap were calculated.
• The energy band gap oscillates as a function of the generation index n.

In this work we address the effects of quasiperiodic disorder on the physical properties of nanoribbons, composed by BN and C, constructed according to the Fibonacci quasiperiodic sequence. We assume BN and C as the building blocks of the resulting quasiperiodic structure. The density of states and energy band gap were obtained through ab-initio calculations based on the density functional theory. We report the effects of the quasiperiodic disorder on the oscillatory behavior of the specific heat, in the low temperature regime, and on the behavior of the energy band gap. In particular, we show that the electronic energy band gap oscillates as a function of the Fibonacci generation index n. Our results suggest that the choice of the building block materials of the quasiperiodic sequence, with appropriate band gap energies, may lead to a tuneable band gap of quasiperiodic nanoribbons.