Magnetic exchange mechanism for electronic gap opening in graphene

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that magnetic adatoms can induce a controllable electronic gap in graphene through exchange interactions, with potential applications in spintronics.

Contribution

It introduces a mean-field model showing how magnetic adatoms create a tunable gap in graphene's electronic spectrum, linking magnetic interactions to electronic properties.

Findings

Magnetic adatoms open a robust electronic gap in graphene.

The gap size depends on exchange interaction strength and can be tuned by temperature and magnetic field.

External magnetic fields induce spin imbalance, enabling spintronic applications.

Abstract

We show within a local self-consistent mean-field treatment that a random distribution of magnetic adatoms can open a robust gap in the electronic spectrum of graphene. The electronic gap results from the interplay between the nature of the graphene sublattice structure and the exchange interaction between adatoms.The size of the gap depends on the strength of the exchange interaction between carriers and localized spins and can be controlled by both temperature and external magnetic field. Furthermore, we show that an external magnetic field creates an imbalance of spin-up and spin-down carriers at the Fermi level, making doped graphene suitable for spin injection and other spintronic applications.