Effect of electric field on the band structure of graphene/boron nitride and boron nitride/boron nitride bilayers

Effect of electric field on the band structures of graphene/boron nitride (BN) and BN/BN bilayers is investigated within the framework of density functional theory. The calculated bandgap of the graphene/BN bilayer increases, although by small amount, with applied electric field. In the case of BN/BN bilayer, the bandgap decreases with the applied field in agreement with earlier studies. The modulation of bandgap in graphene/BN bilayers is dominated by the features of graphene and appears to be related to the modification in molecular orbitals as revealed by the calculated projected density of states.