Magnetic and electronic properties of α-graphyne nanoribbons

Based on the first-principles calculations, we investigate the magnetic and electronic properties of α-graphyne nanoribbons (NRs). We show that all the armchair α-graphyne NRs are nonmagnetic semiconductors with band gaps as a function of ribbon widths. The zigzag α-graphyne NRs are found to have magnetic semiconducting ground state with ferromagnetic ordering at each edge and opposite spin orientation between the two edges. Under the application of transverse electric field, we further predict the existence of half-metallicity in the zigzag NRs which strongly depends on the width of the ribbon.     

Electronic structure of atomic Ti chains on semiconducting graphene nanoribbons: a first-principles study

The electronic and magnetic properties of one-dimensional titanium chains adsorbed on semiconducting armchair graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are studied using the density functional theory. The results show that the strong hybridization between the titanium chain and the GNR gives rise to ferromagnetism and metallicity of the adsorption system. The electronic structure of the adsorption system is found to depend strongly on the width of the GNR. The adsorption system may offer half-metallic ferromagnetism when the width of GNR is less than 2.1 nm, implying a new and promising way to realize GNR based spintronics.     

Theoretical Prediction of the Intrinsic Half-metallicity in One-dimensional Cr_2NO_2 Nanoribbons

One-dimensional Cr_2NO_2 nanoribbons cut from the oxygen-passivated Cr_2NO_2 MXene were investigated by using density functional theory. The wide nanoribbons have ferromagnetic ground states and are intrinsic half-metals, independent of their chirality. The half-metallic band gaps of 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 Cr_2NO_2 nanoribbons are good candidates for spintronics.     

Quenching of local magnetic moment in oxygen adsorbed graphene nanoribbons

The electronic and magnetic properties of oxidized zigzag and armchair graphene nanoribbons, with hydrogen passivated edges, have been investigated from ab initio pseudopotential calculations within the density functional scheme. The oxygen molecule in its triplet state is adsorbed most stably at the edge of a zigzag nanoribbon. The Stoner metallic behavior of the ferromagnetic nanoribbons and the Slater insulating (ground state) behavior of the antiferromagnetic nanoribbons remain intact upon oxygen adsorption. The formation of a spin-paired C-O bond drastically reduces the local atomic magnetic moment of carbon at the edge of the ferromagnetic zigzag ribbon.     

Armchair型石墨纳米带的电子结构和输运性质

利用第一性原理的电子结构和输运性质计算方法, 研究了扶手椅(armchair)型单层石墨纳米带(具有锯齿边缘)的电子结构和输运性质及其边缘空位缺陷效应. 研究发现, 完整边缘的扶手椅型石墨纳米带是典型的金属性纳米带, 边缘空位缺陷的存在对扶手椅型纳米带能带结构有一定的影响,但并不彻底改变其金属性特征.     

扶手椅型二硫化钼纳米带的电子结构与边缘修饰

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法, 研究了扶手椅型二硫化钼纳米带的几何构型与电子结构, 发现其稳定性与电子性质敏感地依赖于边缘修饰. 随着边缘修饰的H原子数增加, 纳米带变得更加稳定, 并在间接带隙半导体、半金属和直接带隙半导体之间转变. 纳米带的能带结构和电子态密度显示, 其费米能级附近的能带主要由边缘态贡献. 当二硫化钼纳米带两边用不同数目的H原子修饰时, 纳米带同时具有由这两种修饰引起的边缘态并且两种边缘态的相互影响很小. 研究了三类纳米带带隙与宽度的关系, 对于每个原胞修饰0个或8个H原子的纳米带, 带隙随宽度以3为周期振荡变化; 而对于每个原胞修饰4个H原子的纳米带, 带隙振荡不再具有周期并且振荡幅度变小.     

Substitutional doping of symmetrical small fullerene dimers

Magnetic carbon nano-structures have potential applications in the field of spintronics as they exhibit valuable magnetic properties. Symmetrically sized small fullerene dimers are substitutional doped with nitrogen (electron rich) and boron (electron deficient) atoms to visualize the effect on their magnetic properties. Interaction energies suggests that the resultant dimer structures are energetically favorable and hence can be formed experimentally. There is significant change in the total magnetic moment of dimers of the order of 0.5 μ_B after the substitution of C atoms with N and B, which can also be seen in the change of density of states. The HOMO-LUMO gaps of spin up and spin down electronic states have finite energy difference which confirm their magnetic behaviour, whereas for non-magnetic doped dimers, the HOMO-LUMO gaps for spin up and down states are degenerate. The optical properties show that the dimers behave as optical semiconductors and are useful in optoelectronic devices. The induced magnetism in these dimers makes them fascinating nanocarbon magnetic materials.     

Spin-spin and spin-orbit interactions in nanographene fragments: a quantum chemistry approach

The relativistic behavior of graphene structures, starting from the fundamental building blocks--the poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) along with other PAH nanographenes--is studied to quantify any associated intrinsic magnetism in the triplet (T) state and subsequently in the ground singlet (S) state with account of possible S-T mixture induced by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). We employ a first principle quantum chemical-based approach and density functional theory (DFT) for a systematic treatment of the spin-Hamiltonian by considering both the spin-orbit and spin-spin interactions as dependent on different numbers of benzene rings. We assess these relativistic spin-coupling phenomena in terms of splitting parameters which cause magnetic anisotropy in absence of external perturbations. Possible routes for changes in the couplings in terms of doping and defects are also simulated and discussed. Accounting for the artificial character of the broken-symmetry solutions for strong spin polarization of the so-called "singlet open-shell" ground state in zigzag graphene nanoribbons predicted by spin-unrestricted DFT approaches, we interpolate results from more sophisticated methods for the S-T gaps and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) integrals and find that these spin interactions become weak as function of size and increasing decoupling of electrons at the edges. This leads to reduced electron spin-spin interaction and hence almost negligible intrinsic magnetism in the carbon-based PAHs and carbon nanographene fragments. Our results are in agreement with the fact that direct experimental evidence of edge magnetism in pristine graphene has been reported so far. We support the notion that magnetism in graphene only can be ascribed to structural defects or impurities.     

Electronic and magnetic properties of armchair and zigzag graphene nanoribbons

The electronic properties, band gap, and ionization potential of zigzag and armchair graphene nanoribbons are calculated as a function of the number of carbon atoms in the ribbon employing density functional theory at the B3LYP6-31G* level. In armchair ribbons, the ionization potential and band gap show a gradual decrease with length. For zigzag ribbons, the dependence of the band gap and ionization potential on ribbon length is different depending on whether the ribbon has an unpaired electron or not. It is also found that boron and nitrogen zigzag and armchair doped graphene nanoribbons have a triplet ground state and could be ferromagnetic.     

Edge state magnetism of single layer graphene nanostructures

We study edge state magnetism in graphene nanostructures using a mean field theory of the Hubbard model. We investigate how the magnetism of the zigzag edges of graphene is affected by the presence of other types of terminating edges and defects. By a detailed study of both regular shapes, such as polygonal nanodots and nanoribbons, and irregular shapes, we conclude that the magnetism in zigzag edges is very robust. Our calculations show that the zigzag edges that are longer than three to four repeat units are always magnetic, irrespective of other edges, regular or irregular. We, therefore, clearly demonstrate that the edge irregularities and defects of the bounding edges of graphene nanostructures do not destroy the edge state magnetism.     

The Effects of the Formation of Stone–Wales Defects on the Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Silicon Carbide Nanoribbons: A First‐Principles Investigation

Detailed first‐principles density functional theory (DFT) computations were performed to investigate the geometries, the electronic, and the magnetic properties of both armchair‐edged silicon carbide nanoribbons (aSiCNRs) and zigzag‐edged silicon carbide nanoribbons (zSiCNRs) with Stone–Wales (SW) defects. SW defects in the center of aSiCNRs can remarkably reduce their band gaps, irrespective of the orientation of the defect, whereas zSiCNRs with SW defects in the center or at the edges exhibit degenerate energies of their ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) states, in which metallic and half‐metallic behavior can be observed, respectively; half‐metallic behavior can even be observed in both the FM and AFM states simultaneously. Further, it was shown that the formation energies of the SW defects in SiCNRs are orientation dependent, and the formation of edge defects is always favored over the formation of interior defects in zSiCNRs. The possible existence of SW defects in SiCNRs was further validated through exploring the kinetic process of their formation. These findings can be anticipated to provide valuable information in promoting the potential applications of SiC‐based nanomaterials in multifunctional and spintronic nanodevices.     

Tuning the Properties of Tetracene-Based Nanoribbons by Fluorination and N-Doping

The structural stabilities and electronic properties are studied for the recently synthesized one-dimensional (1-D) tetracene-based nanoribbons with four-membered rings by using first-principles calculation. All three configurations (named as straight, zigzag, and armchair) are stable and exhibit an indirect band gap of 1.46, 0.73, and 0.32 eV, respectively. The band gaps can be effectively tuned by substituting hydrogen with fluorine atoms and by doping with nitrogen atoms. Substituting hydrogen with fluorine atoms leads to gradual decrease of the electronic band gaps of all configurations. Nitrogen doping changes the band gap from indirect to direct, displaying flexibility of tuning the band structure.     

Graphene nanodots with intrinsically magnetic protrusions

The three step auf bau of a triangular polyaromatic protrusion attached to a larger parent hexagonal shaped graphene nanodot (GND) is described and the dichotomy between intrinsic protrusion localized magnetism and parent extended zigzag edge magnetism is explored using ab initio density functional theory calculations of spin and charge distributions and geometry. Comparison of a three ring with a ten-ring protrusion-GND establishes a pattern for the magnetization of GNDs with larger protrusions and different morphology. The magnetism of the isolated protrusions arises from the mismatch in numbers of sublattice (alternant hydrocarbon) carbon atoms. In the parent, the sublattices are equivalent providing a singlet ground state and the magnetization appears only on long zigzag edges due to exchange interactions operating in a regime of reduced coulombic interactions. We demonstrate that a small protrusion can quench the magnetism of the edge to which it is attached. Concomitantly, the adjacent edges exhibit a small magnetic enhancement, while the remote edges are unperturbed. With size the protrusion can dominate its edge and exert control over the magnetization of other edges. Different multiplicities of the parent moiety were not found. These calculations provide guidance in understanding how the magnetism changes with system shape and in designing nanodots with a specific magnetization.     

SiC-doped boron nitride nanotubes: computations of 11B and 14N quadrupole coupling constants

Abstract  

Density-functional theory calculations have been performed to investigate the properties of the electronic structures of silicon–carbon-doped boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). The geometries of zigzag and armchair BNNTs were initially optimized and the quadrupole coupling constants subsequently calculated. The results indicate that doping of B and N atoms by C and Si atoms has more influence on the electronic structure of the BNNTs than does doping of B and N atoms by Si and C atoms. The changes of the electronic sites of the N atoms are also more significant than those of the B atoms.     

Graphene‐like Molecules with Four Zigzag Edges

An efficient synthetic method toward graphene‐like molecules (GLMs), having four zigzag edges, is described. They were obtained as stable materials and their structures were confirmed by X‐ray crystallographic analysis. They exhibit topology‐ and size‐dependent electronic properties and global aromaticity, which are all different from GLMs having either all‐armchair edges, or three zigzag edges, or two armchair/two zigzag edges. They can be reversibly oxidized and reduced into stable charged species, which show fragmental aromatic character to minimize anti‐aromaticity. Our studies give some new insights into the electronic structures and properties of a new type of rarely studied GLMs.     

Robust half‐metallicity of AlCoN and AlNiN

Theoretical investigations of Al_1‐xCo_xN and Al_1‐xNi_xN (x = 0.25) in the zinc blende phase are presented. The robustness of half metallicity of these compounds with correlation to their lattice compressions is discussed. The results show that both compounds retain their half‐metallic nature (conductor for spin up state and semiconductor for spin down state) with their lattice compressions up to certain critical lattice constants. Abrupt changes in the electronic and magnetic properties are observed at these robust transition lattice constants (RTLCs). These compounds lose their integer magnetic moments of 4μ_β for Al_1‐xCo_xN and 3 μ_β for Al_1‐xNi_xN at RTLCs. The calculated RTLC for Al_0.75Co_0.25N is 4.4 Å and for Al_0.75Ni_0.25N is 4.2 Å. The possible compression in the lattice constants from their relaxed states while maintaining their half‐metallic nature is up to 4% for both compounds. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

First principles study of magnetism in nanographenes

Magnetism in nanographenes [also known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)] is studied with first principles density functional calculations. We find that an antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase appears as the PAH reaches a certain size. This AFM phase in PAHs has the same origin as the one in infinitely long zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons, namely, from the localized electronic state at the zigzag edge. The smallest PAH still having an AFM ground state is identified. With increased length of the zigzag edge, PAHs approach an infinitely long ribbon in terms of (1) the energetic ordering and difference among the AFM, ferromagnetic, and nonmagnetic phases and (2) the average local magnetic moment at the zigzag edges. These PAHs serve as ideal targets for chemical synthesis of nanographenes that possess magnetic properties. Moreover, our calculations support the interpretation that experimentally observed magnetism in activated carbon fibers originates from the zigzag edges of the nanographenes.     

Magnetism in Simple Metal and 4<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> Transition Metal Clusters

In this review article I discuss two aspects of magnetism in small metal clusters. The first question discussed is whether simple metal clusters, that obey electronic shell models and mimic properties of elemental atoms, also obey Hund’s rule of maximum spin multiplicity. The second question is whether small clusters of 4d transition metal atoms, that are non-magnetic in the bulk, have magnetic ground states. The question arises because calculations showed that small V clusters are magnetic although the bulk metal is not. We discuss known results on Rh clusters in detail to show that small clusters are generally magnetic, but it is difficult to unequivocally identify the ground state due to the presence of many isomers and spin states that are very close in energy.     

扶手椅型缺陷硫化钼纳米带电子性质的第一性原理计算

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算,研究了含空位缺陷的扶手椅型二硫化钼纳米带的电子性质.发现缺陷会导致纳米带结构稳定性降低,单空位钼缺陷和三空位缺陷使得纳米带从半导体变成金属性,而单空位硫缺陷和两种双空位缺陷仅减小纳米带的带隙;电子态密度和能带的本征态表明缺陷纳米带费米能级附近的杂质态主要是缺陷态的贡献.研究了四类半导体性质的纳米带带隙与宽度的关系,对于完整的纳米带,带隙随宽度以3为周期振荡变化;而引入空位缺陷后,纳米带的带隙振荡不再具有周期且振荡幅度变小.同时发现,当缺陷的浓度变小后,缺陷仅使纳米带的带隙减小,不会使其变为金属性.这些结果有望打开其在新型纳电子器件中的应用潜能.     

Ferromagnetism induced by intrinsic defects and boron substitution in single-wall SiC nanotubes

On the basis of density functional theory (DFT) methods, we study the magnetic properties and electronic structures of the armchair (4, 4) and zigzag (8, 0) single-wall SiC nanotubes with various vacancies and boron substitution. The calculation results indicate that a Si vacancy could induce the magnetic moments in both armchair (4, 4) and zigzag (8, 0) single-wall SiC nanotubes, which mainly arise from the p orbital of C atoms surrounding Si vacancy, leading to the ferromagnetic coupling. However, a C vacancy could only bring about the magnetic moment in armchair (4, 4) single-wall SiC nanotube, which mainly originates from the polarization of Si p electrons, leading to the antiferromagnetic coupling. In addition, for both kinds of single-wall SiC nanotubes, magnetic moments can be induced by a boron atom substituting for C atom. When two boron atoms locate nearest neighbored, both kinds of single-wall Si(C, B) nanotubes exhibit antiferromagnetic coupling.