  The electronic properties of boron-nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) doped with a
line of carbon atoms are investigated by using density functional calculations.
Three different configurations are possible: the carbon atoms may replace a
line of boron or nitrogen atoms or a line of alternating B and N atoms which
results in very different electronic properties. We found that: i) the NCB
arrangement is strongly polarized with a large dipole moment having an
unexpected direction, ii) the BCB and NCN arrangement are non-polar with zero
dipole moment, iii) the doping by a carbon line reduces the band gap
independent of the local arrangement of boron and nitrogen around the carbon
line, iv) an electric field parallel to the carbon line polarizes the BN sheet
and is found to be sensitive to the presence of carbon dopants, and v) the
energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest
unoccupied molecular orbital decreases linearly with increasing applied
electric field directed parallel to the carbon line. We show that the
polarization and energy gap of carbon doped BNNRs can be tuned by an electric
field applied parallel along the carbon line.
