Electronic structures of SiC nanoribbons.
Electronic structures of SiC nanoribbons have been studied by spin-polarized first-principles calculations. The armchair nanoribbons are nonmagnetic semiconductors, while the zigzag nanoribbons are magnetic metals. The spin polarization in the zigzag SiC nanoribbons is originated from the unpaired electrons localized on the ribbon edges. Interestingly, the zigzag nanoribbons narrower than approximately 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 nanomaterial-based spintronics applications.
Sun
Lian
L
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China.
Li
Yafei
Y
Li
Zhenyu
Z
Li
Qunxiang
Q
Zhou
Zhen
Z
Chen
Zhongfang
Z
Yang
Jinlong
J
Hou
J G
JG