We report a first-principles electronic-structure calculation on C and BN hybrid zigzag nanoribbons. We find that half-metallicity can arise in the hybrid nanoribbons even though stand-alone C or BN nanoribbon possesses a finite band gap. This unexpected half-metallicity in the hybrid nanos-tructures stems from a competition between the charge and spin polarizations, as well as from the pi orbital hybridization between C and BN. Our results point out a possibility of making spintronic devices solely based on nanoribbons and a new way of designing metal-free half metals.
Electronic properties of zigzag boron-carbon-nitride (BCN) nanoribbons, where the outermost C atoms on the edges of graphene nanoribbons are replaced by B or N atoms, are theoretically studied using the first-principles calculations. We show that BCN nanoribbons are metallic, since several bands cross the Fermi level. For BCN nanoribbons in a rich H$_2$ environment, the so-called nearly free electron state appears just above the Fermi level because of the intrinsic giant Stark effect due to the internal electric field of a transverse dipole moment. The position of the nearly free electron stat…
Electronic states in boron-nitride and boron-carbon-nitride nanoribbons with zigzag edges are studied using the extended Hubbard model with nearest neighbor Coulomb interactions. The charge and spin polarized states are considered, and the phase diagram between two states is obtained. Next, the electric capacitance is calculated in order to examine the nano-functionalities of the system. Due to the presence of the strong site energies, the charge polarized state overcomes the spin polarized states, giving the large difference of the phase diagram in comparison with that of graphite system. The…
Using a tight binding model, we theoretically study the electronic properties of zigzag boron-carbon-nitride (BCN) nanoribbons where the outermost C atoms of zigzag graphene nanoribbons are replaced with B and N atoms. We show that the flat bands and edge states appear at the Fermi level when the number of B and N atoms are equal except the case of six times supercell. To investigate the origin of the edge states in BCN nanoribbons, we consider the semi-infinite graphene sheet with zigzag edge where outermost C atoms are replaced with B and N atoms. We analytically demonstrate the presence of …
One-dimensional Cr2NO2 nanoribbons cutting from the oxygen-passivated Cr2NO2 MXene are investigated by using density functional theory. The wide nanoribbons have ferromagnetic ground states and are half-metals, independent of their chirality. The half-metallic band gaps of the wide nanoribbons are larger than 1 eV, which are large enough for avoiding thermally activated spin flip. The magnetism does not rely on the edge states but originates from all the Cr atoms. Furthermore, the half-metallicity is still robust in an electronic device even if the bias is up to 1 V. Therefore, one-dimensional…
We propose a class of graphene nanoribbons showing strong intrinsic ferromagnetic behavior due to their asymmetry. Such ribbons are based on a zig-zag edged backbone surmounted by a periodic, triangular notched region of variable size. The electronic properties as a function of the topology are investigated. Interestingly, substitutional doping by boron or nitrogen induces half-metallicity. The most effective doping sites can be inferred from the band structure. Given the present rapid development of bottom-up strategies for the synthesis of atomically precise carbon nanostructures the propose…
The Cr2Ge2Te6 (CGT) compound is an intrinsic ferromagnetic material with a van der Waals layered structure that shows great promise in spintronics applications. In this work, we investigated the edge effect in the formation of CGT nanoribbons with different terminations as well as the change in electronic and magnetic properties considering spin-orbit effects on the calculations. We studied the thermodynamic stability of the nanoribbon employing the surface formation energy formalism. According to the calculations, in regions of Ge-rich, Te-rich, and Ge-poor, Te-poor of chemical potential the …
As a possible way of modifying the intrinsic properties of graphene we study the doping of graphene by embedded boron clusters with density functional theory. Cluster doping is technologically relevant as the cluster implantation technique can be readily applied to graphene. We find that B7 clusters embedded into graphene and graphene nanoribbons are structurally stable and locally metallize the system. This is done both by the reduction of the Fermi energy and by the introduction of boron states near the Fermi level. A linear chain of boron clusters forms a metallic "wire" inside the graphene…
We present a first-principles theoretical study of electric field-and strain-controlled intrinsic half-metallic properties of zigzagged aluminium nitride (AlN) nanoribbons. We show that the half-metallic property of AlN ribbons can undergo a transition into fully-metallic or semiconducting behavior with application of an electric field or uniaxial strain. An external transverse electric field induces a full charge screening that renders the material semiconducting. In contrast, as uniaxial strain varies from compressive to tensile, a spin-resolved selective self-doping increases the half-metal…
We perform density functional calculations on one-dimensional zigzag edge graphene nano-ribbons (ZGNRs) of different widths, with and without edge doping including semi-local exchange-correlations. Our study reveals that, although the ground state of edge passivated (with hydrogen) ZGNRs prefers to be anti-ferromagnetic, the doping of both the edges with Boron atoms stabilizes the system in a ferromagnetic ground state. Both the local and semi-local exchange-correlations result in half-metallicity in edge passivated ZGNRs at a finite cross-ribbon electric field. However, the ZGNR with Boron ed…
At B3LYP level of theory, we predict that the half-metallicity in zigzag edge graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) can be realized when an external electric field is applied across the ribbon. The critical electric field to induce the half-metallicity decreases with the increase of the ribbon width. Both the spin polarization and half-metallicity are removed when the edge state electrons fully transferred from one side to the other under very strong electric field. The electric field range under which ZGNR remain half-metallic increases with the ribbon width. Our study demonstrates a rich field-induced …
In contrast to the well recognized transverse-electric-field-induced half-metallicity in zigzag graphene nanoribbons, here we demonstrate by first-principles calculations that zigzag graphene nanoribbons sandwiched between hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons or sheets can be tuned into half-metal simply by a bias voltage or a moderate compressive strain. The half-metallicity is attributed to an enhanced coupling effect of spontaneous polarization and asymmetrical exchange correlation along the ribbon width. The findings should open a viable route for efficient spin-resolved band engineering in…
The spin-dependent electronic structures of aluminum-(Al) doped zigzag silicene nanoribbons (ZSiNRs) are investigated by first-principles calculations. When ZSiNRs are substitutionally doped by a single Al atom on different sites in every three primitive cells, they become half-metallic in some cases, a property that can be used in spintronic devices. More interestingly, spin-down electrons can be transported at the Fermi energy when the Al atom is placed on the sub-edge site. In contrast, spin-up electrons can be transported at the Fermi energy when the ZSiNRs are doped on sites near their ce…
Lateral heterostructures of two-dimensional materials may exhibit various intriguing emergent properties. Yet when specified to the orientationally aligned heterojunctions of zigzag graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanoribbons, realizations of the high expectations on their properties encounter two standing hurtles. First, the rapid accumulation of strain energy prevents large- scale fabrication. Secondly, the pronounced half-metallicity predicted for freestanding graphene nanoribbons is severely suppressed. By properly tailoring orientational misalignment between zigzag graphene and…
We perform first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to study quasi one-dimensional edge-passivated (with hydrogen) zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) of various widths with chemical dopants, boron and nitrogen, keeping the whole system isoelectronic. Gradual increase in doping concentration takes the system finally to zigzag boron nitride nanoribbons (ZBNNRs). Our study reveals that, for all doping concentrations the systems stabilize in anti-ferromagnetic ground states. Doping concentrations and dopant positions regulate the electronic structure of the nanoribbons, ex…
Electronic structures of SiC nanoribbons have been studied by spin-polarized density functional calculations. The armchair nanoribbons are nonmagnetic semiconductor, while the zigzag nanoribbons are magnetic metal. The spin polarization in zigzag SiC nanoribbons is originated from the unpaired electrons localized on the ribbon edges. Interestingly, the zigzag nanoribbons narrower than $\sim$4 nm present half-metallic behavior. Without the aid of external field or chemical modification, the metal-free half-metallicity predicted for narrow SiC zigzag nanoribbons opens a facile way for nanomateri…
We study in this paper the edge polarizations and their consequences for a biased Bernal stacked bilayer graphene nanoribbon with zigzag termination. The magnetic states are classified according to the interlayer and intralayer couplings between the edge polarizations, and the magnetic phase diagram of doping versus bias voltage is given. Coplanar magnetic phase is found and the variation of its magnetic structure with the bias voltage is investigated. For all the magnetic states, we also discuss the possibility of the half-metallicity, and for a ribbon with perfect zigzag edges we predict sev…
The design and fabrication of robust metallic states in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is a significant challenge since lateral quantum confinement and many-electron interactions tend to induce electronic band gaps when graphene is patterned at nanometer length scales. Recent developments in bottom-up synthesis have enabled the design and characterization of atomically-precise GNRs, but strategies for realizing GNR metallicity have been elusive. Here we demonstrate a general technique for inducing metallicity in GNRs by inserting a symmetric superlattice of zero-energy modes into otherwise semico…
Based on systematic first-principles density-functional theory (DFT) simulations, we predict that the zigzag GaN nanoribbons (ZGaNNR) can be used both as highly efficient CO detectors as well as spin filters. Our calculations performed both on infinitely long nanoribbons, and also on finite strands, suggest that: (a) CO binds strongly at the edges of ZGaNNRs, and (b) that several of the resultant configurations exhibit half-metallic behavior. We considered various edge-passivation sites and found that all the resultant structures are thermodynamically stable. The metallic, half-metallic, and s…
Realizing magnetism in graphene/carbon nanostructures is a decade-long challenge. The magnetic edge state and half metallicity in zigzag graphene nanoribbons are particularly promising [Y.-W. Son, et al., Nature 444, 347 (2006)]. However, its experimental realization has been hindered by the stringent requirement of the mono-hydrogenated zigzag edge. Using first-principle calculations, we predict that free-carrier doping can overcome this challenge and realize ferromagnetism and half-metallicity in narrow graphene nanoribbons of general types of edge structures. This magnetism exists within th…
We present a novel comprehensive first-principles theoretical study of the electronic properties and relative stabilities of edge-oxidized zigzag graphene nanoribbons. The oxidation schemes considered include hydroxyl, carboxyl, ether, and ketone groups. Using screened exchange density functional theory, we show that these oxidized ribbons are more stable than hydrogen-terminated nanoribbons except for the case of the etheric groups. The stable oxidized configurations maintain a spin-polarized ground state with antiferromagnetic ordering localized at the edges, similar to the fully hydrogenate…
We predict intrinsic half-metallicity in armchair boron nitride nanoribbons (ABNNRs) via edge fluorination. The stability, electronic and magnetic properties of bare and edge fluorinated ABNNRs have been systematically analyzed by means of first-principles calculations within the local spin-density approximation (LSDA). The ribbons whose only edge-B atoms passivated with F atoms (i.e., edge-N atoms are un-passivated), regardless of width, are found half-metallic with a half-metal gap of 0.3 eV. A 100 \% spin polarized charge transport across the Fermi level is expected for such ribbons as the …
The spin-polarized electronic structure and half-metallicity of zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) with asymmetric edge terminations are investigated by using first principles calculations. It is found that compared with symmetric hydrogen-terminated counterparts, such ZGNRs maintain a spin-polarized ground state with the anti-ferromagnetic configuration at opposite edges, but their energy bands are no longer spin degenerate. In particular, the energy gap of one spin orientation decreases remarkably. Consequently, the ground state of such ZGNRs is very close to half-metallic state, and thus a…
By using first-principles calculations, we predict that an in-plane homogenous electrical field can induce half-metallicity in hydrogen-terminated zigzag silicene and germanene nanoribbons (ZSiNRs and ZGeNRs). A dual-gated finite ZSiNR device reveals a nearly perfect spin-filter efficiency of up to 99% while a quadruple-gated finite ZSiNR device serves as an effective spin field effect transistor (FET) with an on/off current ratio of over 100 from ab initio quantum transport simulation. This discovery opens up novel prospect of silicene and germanene in spintronics.
We performed electronic structure calculations based on the first-principles many-body theory approach in order to study quasiparticle band gaps, and optical absorption spectra of hydrogen-passivated zigzag SiC nanoribbons. Self-energy corrections are included using the GW approximation, and excitonic effects are included using the Bethe-Salpeter equation. We have systematically studied nanoribbons that have widths between 0.6 $\text{nm}$ and 2.2 $\text{nm}$. Quasiparticle corrections widened the Kohn-Sham band gaps because of enhanced interaction effects, caused by reduced dimensionality. Zig…
Graphene on a substrate will suffer an inversion-symmetry-breaking (ISB) lattice potential. Taking electron-electron interaction into account, we study in this paper the possibility of half-metallicity and noncollinear (NC) magnetic phase for graphene zigzag nanoribbons without inversion symmetry. At half-filling it is found that half-metallic(HM) state can be achieved at an intermediate value of the ISB potential due to its competition with the electron-electron interaction. Away from half-filling, the phase diagrams of doping versus ISB potential for different ribbon width are given, where t…
First-principles investigations on the edge energies and edge stresses of single-layer hexagonal boron-nitride (BN) are presented. The armchair edges of BN nanoribbons (BNNRs) are more stable in energy than zigzag ones. Armchair BNNRs are under compressive edge stress while zigzag BNNRs are under tensile edge stress. The intrinsic spin-polarization and edge saturation play important roles in modulating the edge stability of BNNRs. The edge energy difference between BN and graphene could be used to guide the design of the specific hybrid BNC structures: in an armchair BNC nanoribbon (BNCNR), BN…
Electrical current can be completely spin polarized in a class of materials known as half-metals, as a result of the coexistence of metallic nature for electrons with one spin orientation and insulating for electrons with the other. Such asymmetric electronic states for the different spins have been predicted for some ferromagnetic metals - for example, the Heusler compounds- and were first observed in a manganese perovskite. In view of the potential for use of this property in realizing spin-based electronics, substantial efforts have been made to search for half-metallic materials. However, …
