2009/06/16 by Julia Berashevich, Tapash Chakraborty · 17 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Antiferromagnetism #Asymmetry #Band gap #Bilayer graphene #Condensed matter physics #Doping #Ferromagnetism #Geometry #Graphene #Graphene nanoribbons #Graphene research and applications #Materials science #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Nanotechnology #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spintronics #Zigzag #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.80.115430
published in Physical Review B 80(11) (American Physical Society) · 6 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2009/06/16 · openalex publication_date 2009/09/25 · arxiv updated 2015/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a way to control both the band gap and the magnetic properties of nanoscale graphene, which might prove highly beneficial for application in nanoelectronic and spintronic devices. We have shown that chemical doping by nitrogen along a single zigzag edge lowers the symmetry from D2h (pure graphene) to C2v, thereby accommodating the state with antiferromagnetic spin ordering of localized states between the zigzag edges. This leads to an increase in the gap in comparison to that of pure graphene in its highest possible symmetry of D2h and a shift of the molecular orbitals localized on the doped edge in such a way that the spin gap asymmetry, which can lead to half metallicity under certain conditions, is obtained. The doping in the middle of the graphene layer along the zigzag edge results in an impurity level between the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of pure graphene (much like in semiconductor systems) thus decreasing the band gap and adding unpaired electrons, which can also be used to control the graphene conductivity.