It have been demonstrated that the zigzag honeycomb nanoribbons exhibit an intriguing edge magnetism. Here the effect of the anisotropy on the edge magnetism in zigzag honeycomb nanoribbons is investigated by using two kinds of large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The anisotropy in zigzag honeycomb nanoribbons is characterized by the ratios of nearest-neighboring hopping integrals $t_{1}$ in one direction and $t_{2}$ in another direction. Considering the electron-electron correlation, it is shown that the edge ferromagnetism could be enhanced greatly as $t_{2}/|t_{1}|$ increase from $1$ to $3$, which not only presenting the avenue for the control of this magnetism, but also being useful for exploring further novel magnetism in new nano-scale materials.
Using the determinant quantum Monte-Carlo method, we elucidate the strain tuning of edge magnetism in zigzag graphene nanoribbons. Our intensive numerical results show that a relatively weak Coulomb interaction may induce a ferromagnetic-like behaviour with a proper strain, and the edge magnetism can be enhanced greatly as the strain along the zigzag edge increases, which provides another way to control graphene magnetism even at room temperature.
The topological phases of graphene with spin-orbit coupling, an exchange field, and a staggered-sublattice potential determine the properties of the edge states of the zigzag nanoribbon. In the presence of the Hubbard interaction, the spontaneous magnetization at the zigzag terminations induces sizable magnetic moments at the lattice sites in the bulk region. Thus, the exchange field and staggered-sublattice potential in the bulk region are effectively changed, which in turn change the topological phase. Within a certain parameter regime, quasi-stable excited states of the zigzag nanoribbon ex…
Properties in magnetic ordered states of graphene nanoribbons with zigzag shaped edges are investigated by applying mean-field approximation to the Hubbard model with on-site repulsion $U$. We observe that magnetic moments and critical temperature show anomalous power-law dependences as a function of $U$; the actual values of the power are determined by only the width of ribbons. Such singular behaviours are found to be due to localized nature of the electronic states close to Fermi energy.
We present an analytical theory for the magnetic phase diagram for zigzag edge terminated honeycomb nanoribbons described by a Hubbard model with an interaction parameter U . We show that the edge magnetic moment varies as ln U and uncover its dependence on the width W of the ribbon. The physics of this owes its origin to the sensory organ like response of the nanoribbons, demonstrating that considerations beyond the usual Stoner-Landau theory are necessary to understand the magnetism of these systems. A first order magnetic transition from an anti-parallel orientation of the moments on opposi…
We theoretically examine the possible spin ordered states in zigzag graphene nanoribbon in a large supercell by the self-consistent mean field method as well as the first principle calculation. In addition to the well-known anti-ferromagnetic (AF) and ferromagnetic (FM) edge states, we find that there are also some excited spin density wave (ESDW) states, the energy of which are close to the AF edge state (ground state). We thus argue that these ESDW states may coexist in experiment when the temperature is not too low. Our numerical results indicate that the allowed ESDW are commensurate; and …
We examine the magnetic correlations in quantum spin models that were derived recently as effective low-energy theories for electronic correlation effects on the edge states of graphene nanoribbons. For this purpose, we employ quantum Monte Carlo simulations to access the large-distance properties, accounting for quantum fluctuations beyond mean-field-theory approaches to edge magnetism. For certain chiral nanoribbons, antiferromagnetic inter-edge couplings were previously found to induce a gapped quantum disordered ground state of the effective spin model. We find that the extended nature of …
Searching for room temperature ferromagnetic semiconductors has evolved into a broad field of material science and spintronics for decades, nevertheless, these novel states remain rare. Phosphorene, a monolayer black phosphorus with a puckered honeycomb lattice structure possessing a finite band gap and high carrier mobility, has been synthesized recently. Here we show, by means of two different large scale quantum Monte-Carlo methods, that relatively weak interactions can lead to remarkable edge magnetism in the phosphorene nanoribbons. The ground state constrained path quantum Monte-Carlo si…
We investigate the aspects of the electron transport in the zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) using the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism. The latter is an esoteric tool in mesoscopic physics and using this tool the analysis is performed by considering the potential well within the system. Within this potential well, the dependence of the transmission coefficient, local density of states (LDOS) and the electron transport properties on the number of atoms per unit cell is discussed. We observe that the electron and thermal conductance increases with the increase of the number …
We investigate the low-lying excitation spectrum and ground-state properties of narrow graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edge configurations. Nanoribbons of comparable widths have been synthesized very recently [P. Ruffieux, \emph{et al.} Nature \textbf{531}, 489 (2016)], and their descriptions require more sophisticated methods since in this regime conventional methods, like mean-field or density-functional theory with local density approximation, fail to capture the enhanced quantum fluctuations. Using the unbiased density-matrix renormalization group algorithm we calculate the charge gaps wi…
An introductory overview of current research developments regarding solitons and fractional boundary charges in graphene nanoribbons is presented. Graphene nanoribbons and polyacetylene have chiral symmetry and share numerous similar properties, e.g., the bulk-edge correspondence between the Zak phase and the existence of edge states, along with the presence of chiral boundary states, which are important for charge fractionalization. In polyacetylene, a fermion mass potential in the Dirac equation produces an excitation gap, and a twist in this scalar potential produces a zero-energy chiral so…
Based on the Cluster Perturbation solution of the Hubbard hamiltonian for a 2-D honeycomb lattice we present quasiparticle band structures of nanoribbons at half filling as a function of the on-site electron-electron repulsion. We show that at moderate values of e-e interaction ribbons with armachair shaped edges exhibit an unexpected semimetallic behavior, recovering the original insulating character only at larger values of $U$.
We numerically compute the density of states (DOS) of interacting disordered zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) having midgap states showing $e/2$ fractional edge charges. The computed Hartree-Fock DOS is linear at the critical disorder strength where the gap vanishes. This implies an $I\mbox{-}V$ curve of $I\propto V^2$. Thus, $I\mbox{-}V$ curve measurement may yield evidence of fractional charges in interacting disordered ZGNR. We show that even a weak disorder potential acts as a singular perturbation on zigzag edge electronic states, producing drastic changes in the energy spectrum. Spin-ch…
We reveal an edge spin triplet $p-$wave superconducting pairing correlation in slightly doped zigzag graphene nanoribbons. By employing a method that combines random-phase approximation, the finite-temperature determinant quantum Monte Carlo approach, and the ground-state constrained-path quantum Monte Carlo method, it is shown that such a spin-triplet pairing is mediated by the ferromagnetic fluctuations caused by the flat band at the edge. The spin susceptibility and effective pairing interactions at the edge strongly increase as the on-site Coulomb interaction increases, indicating the impo…
An exact solution (incomplete) of the ground-state problem for an Ising model in an external field on a 3D honeycomb zigzag-ladder lattice with two types of sites is found. It is shown that the geometrical frustration due to the presence of triangle elements leads to the emergence of a variety of magnetic phases. The majority of these are partially disordered (highly degenerate). The theoretical results are used to explain the sequence of experimentally observed phase transitions in the honeycomb zigzag-ladder magnets and to predict the appearance of new phases.
The pseudo-magnetic field created by a non-uniform unaxial strain is introduced into the antiferromagnetic honeycomb nanoribbons. The formation of magnon pseudo-Landau levels, which appear from the upper end of the spectrum and whose level spacings are proportional to the square root of the level index, is revealed by the linear spin-wave theory. The antiferromagnetic order is gradually weakened along the $y$-direction by the strain. At large enough strength, the system is decoupled into isolated zigzag chains near the upper boundary, and demonstrates one-dimensional magnetic property there. W…
We investigate interacting disordered zigzag nanoribbons at low doping, using the Hubbard model to treat electron interactions within the density matrix renormalization group and Hartree-Fock method. Extra electrons that are inserted into an interacting disordered zigzag nanoribbon divide into anyons. Furthermore, the fractional charges form a new disordered anyon phase with a highly distorted edge spin density wave, containing numerous localized magnetic moments residing on the zigzag edges, thereby displaying spin-charge separation and a strong non-local correlation between the opposite zigz…
Spin waves in the zigzag ordered state on a honeycomb lattice are investigated within a Hubbard model with spin-dependent hopping terms. Roles of the emergent Kitaev, Heisenberg, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya, and symmetric-off-diagonal spin interactions are investigated on the stability of the zigzag order. While the DM interactions are found to destabilize the zigzag order, the secondary spin-dependent hopping terms (associated with structural distortions) are shown to strongly stabilize the zigzag order and account for magnetocrystalline anisotropy, easy axis, and spin wave gap. The calculated spin…
The Kitaev honeycomb model has been suggested as a useful starting point to describe the honeycomb iridates. However, the zigzag ordering seen in Na2IrO3 and the magnetic transition in Li2IrO3 have raised questions to their connection to the Kitaev model and to the microscopic origin of these magnetic states, given their structural similarities. Here we study how the magnetic phases near the Kitaev spin liquid are affected by the inclusion of trigonal distortion of the oxygen octahedra within a purely nearest neighbour model. Using a combination classical analysis and exact diagonalization we …
By means of quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations from first principles, we study the ground-state properties of the narrowest zigzag graphene nanoribbon, with an infinite linear acene structure. We show that this quasi-one-dimensional system is correlated and its ground state is made of localized $π$ electrons whose spins are antiferromagnetically (AFM) ordered. The AFM stablization energy (36(3) meV per carbon atom) and the absolute magnetization (1.13(1) $μ_\textrm{B}$ per unit cell) predicted by QMC are sizable, and they suggest the survival of antiferromagnetic correlations above room te…
