Pseudospintronics with Phosphorene Nanoribbons

Near-equilibrium electron transport in metallic phosphorene nanoribbons takes place in the states whose wavefunctions are located near the edges of the ribbon. Here, we show that electrical manipulation of these edge states provides a platform for the implementation of two different schemes of pseudospin electronics, a form of electronics based upon manipulation of tunable equivalents of the spin-one-half degree of freedom, i.e., the pseudospin. In each pseudospin electronics scheme, two different devices have been proposed: a pseudospin field-effect transistor (FET) for the purpose of generating pseudospin-polarized current and a pseudospin valve that operates similar to conventional spin valves. In each pseudospin scheme, we investigate the performance of the pseudospin FET and the pseudospin valve. The results presented here provide new avenues for realization of pseudospin electronics.