skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Induce magnetism into silicene by embedding transition-metal atoms

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4921699· OSTI ID:22423741
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu (China)

Embedding transition-metal (TM) atoms into nonmagnetic nanomaterials is an efficient way to induce magnetism. Using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigated the structural stability and magnetic properties of TM atoms from Sc to Zn embedded into silicene with single vacancy (SV) and double vacancies (DV). The binding energies for different TM atoms correlate with the TM d-shell electrons. Sc, Ti, and Co show the largest binding energies of as high as 6 eV, while Zn has the lowest binding energy of about 2 eV. The magnetic moment of silicene can be modulated by embedding TM atoms from V to Co, which mainly comes from the 3d orbitals of TM along with partly contributions from the neighboring Si atoms. Fe atom on SV and Mn atom on DV have the largest magnetic moment of more than 3 μB. In addition, we find that doping of N or C atoms on the vacancy site could greatly enhance the magnetism of the systems. Our results provide a promising approach to design silicene-based nanoelectronics and spintronics device.

OSTI ID:
22423741
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 22; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English