Quantum coherence and non-equilibrium statistics are the governing mechanisms for electronic transport in 2-D materials. The present work investigates the electronic transport properties of pristine and N-doped disconnected zigzag ZnO nanoribbons (Z-ZnONRs) using density functional theory (DFT) framework along with non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF). Interestingly, even though the structures are disconnected, still they exhibit electron transport. These ZnONRs disconnected structures can act as two probe devices by deploying the tunneling mechanism for electron transport. It is reported that the tunneling current decreases with an increase in the disconnected distance between the two considered Z-ZnONR structures. Further, negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristics are observed in all the considered configurations. Moreover, the N atom doping is also studied at the disconnected edges. N-dopant position affects the $I$–$V$ characteristics based on the dopant sites. Zn-rich edge dopant induces NDR across a wide range while O-rich edge dopant induces linear $I$–$V$ behavior with lower NDR characteristics. The highest NDR peak-to-valley current ratio is reported around 5.6 $\times 10^4$ within the 0.15 V bias region. The structure with N doped at both edges and disconnected distance as 0.5 Å exhibited dominant NDR behavior. This finds their potential use in the design of oscillators, switches, rectifiers, amplifiers, frequency converters, detectors, and resonator circuits, etc.

量子相干性和非平衡统计是二维材料中电子传输的控制机制。目前的工作使用密度泛函理论 (DFT) 框架和非平衡格林函数 (NEGF) 研究了原始和 N 掺杂的断开的锯齿形 ZnO 纳米带 (Z-ZnONRs) 的电子传输特性。有趣的是，即使结构断开连接，它们仍然表现出电子传输。通过部署电子传输的隧道机制，这些 ZnONRs 不连接结构可以充当两个探针设备。据报道，隧道电流随着两个考虑的 Z-ZnONR 结构之间断开距离的增加而降低。此外，在所有考虑的配置中都观察到负微分电阻 (NDR) 特性。而且，还在断开的边缘处研究了 N 原子掺杂。N 掺杂位置影响$我$——$伏$基于掺杂位点的特性。富锌边缘掺杂剂在宽范围内诱发 NDR，而富氧边缘掺杂剂诱发线性$我$——$伏$具有较低 NDR 特性的行为。据报道，最高 NDR 峰谷电流比约为 5.6$\times 10^4$在 0.15 V 偏置区域内。在两个边缘都掺杂 N 且断开距离为 0.5 Å 的结构表现出主要的 NDR 行为。这在振荡器、开关、整流器、放大器、变频器、检测器和谐振器电路等的设计中发现了它们的潜在用途。