Prediction of Half Metallicity along the Edge of Boron Nitride Zigzag Nanoribbons
Fawei Zheng, Gang Zhou, Zhirong Liu, Jian Wu, Wenhui Duan, Bing-Lin Gu, S. B. Zhang
Published: 2008/4/27
Abstract
First-principles calculations reveal half metallicity in zigzag boron nitride (BN) nanoribbons (ZBNNRs). When the B edge, but not the N edge, of the ZBNNR is passivated, despite being a pure $sp$-electron system, the ribbon shows a giant spin splitting. The electrons at the Fermi level are 100% spin polarized with a half-metal gap of 0.38 eV and its conductivity is dominated by metallic single-spin states. The two states across at the Dirac point have different molecular origins, which signals a switch of carrier velocity. The ZBNNR should be a good potential candidate for widegap spintronics.