Half-Metallic Silicene and Germanene Nanoribbons: towards High-Performance Spintronics Device

TL;DR

This paper predicts that applying an in-plane electrical field can induce half-metallicity in silicene and germanene nanoribbons, enabling high-efficiency spin filtering and transistor functionalities for advanced spintronics applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates, through first-principles calculations, that electrical fields can induce half-metallicity in silicene and germanene nanoribbons, enabling their use in high-performance spintronic devices.

Findings

Achieved nearly 99% spin-filter efficiency in ZSiNR devices.

Demonstrated over 100 on/off current ratio in spin FETs.

Predicted electrical field-induced half-metallicity in silicene and germanene nanoribbons.

Abstract

By using first-principles calculations, we predict that an in-plane homogenous electrical field can induce half-metallicity in hydrogen-terminated zigzag silicene and germanene nanoribbons (ZSiNRs and ZGeNRs). A dual-gated finite ZSiNR device reveals a nearly perfect spin-filter efficiency of up to 99% while a quadruple-gated finite ZSiNR device serves as an effective spin field effect transistor (FET) with an on/off current ratio of over 100 from ab initio quantum transport simulation. This discovery opens up novel prospect of silicene and germanene in spintronics.