Half Metallicity in Hybrid BCN Nanoribbons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that hybrid BCN nanoribbons can exhibit half-metallicity due to charge, spin polarization, and orbital hybridization effects, enabling potential spintronic device applications.

Contribution

It reveals the emergence of half-metallicity in hybrid BCN nanoribbons, a phenomenon not present in pure C or BN nanoribbons, through first-principles calculations.

Findings

Half-metallicity arises in hybrid BCN nanoribbons.

Charge and spin polarizations compete to produce half-metallicity.

Hybridization of pi orbitals between C and BN is crucial.

Abstract

We report a first-principles electronic-structure calculation on C and BN hybrid zigzag nanoribbons. We find that half-metallicity can arise in the hybrid nanoribbons even though stand-alone C or BN nanoribbon possesses a finite band gap. This unexpected half-metallicity in the hybrid nanos-tructures stems from a competition between the charge and spin polarizations, as well as from the pi orbital hybridization between C and BN. Our results point out a possibility of making spintronic devices solely based on nanoribbons and a new way of designing metal-free half metals.