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Persistent URL http://purl.org/net/epubs/work/49717
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Record Id 49717
Title A defective graphene phase predicted to be a room temperature ferromagnetic semiconductor
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Abstract Theoretical calculations, based on the hybrid exchange density functional theory, are used to show that in graphene, a periodic array of defects generates a ferromagnetic ground state at room temperature for unexpectedly large defect separations. This is demonstrated for defects that consist of a carbon vacancy in which two of the dangling bonds are saturated with H atoms. The magnetic coupling mechanism is analysed and found to be due to an instability in the pi-electron system with respect to a long-range spin polarization characterized by alternation in the spin direction between adjacent carbon atoms. The disruption of the pi-bonding opens a semiconducting gap at the Fermi edge. The size of the energy gap and the magnetic coupling strength are strong functions of the defect separation and can thus be controlled by varying the defect concentration. The position of the semiconducting energy gap and the electron effective mass are strongly spin-dependent and this is expected to result in a spin asymmetry in the transport properties of the system. A defective graphene sheet is, therefore, a very promising material with an in-built mechanism for tailoring the properties of future spintronic devices.
Organisation CSE , CSE-CMSG , STFC
Keywords graphene , Physics , density functional theory , B3LYP , organic magnet
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Language English (EN)
Type Details URI(s) Local file(s) Year
Journal Article New J Phys 10 (2008): 033002. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/10/3/033002 2008