Tailoring the electronic properties of a Z-shaped graphene field effect transistor via B/N doping

•Doping of B/N can be used to tailor the electronic properties of graphene based FET.•The band structure is sensitive to doping site as well as doping concentration.•B–N co-doped channel exhibits 20% lower band gap than that of pristine channel.•Configurations with N doped channel show highest current amongst others.

We performed first-principles calculations to reveal a viable way for tailoring the electronic properties of Z-shaped double gate graphene field effect transistor (Z-GFET). We used B/N impurities in channel region of Z-GFET. It is revealed that doping of channel region by B/N has a significant effect on its band gap which is directly reflected in the corresponding current–voltage characteristics. A semiconducting to metallic transition is also observed in selected configurations. For B–N co-doping (config. W), direct band gap of 1.84 eV is obtained which is 20% lower than that of pristine channel. Present results are useful for future electronic devices.