Atomically thin dilute magnetism in Co-doped phosphorene

TL;DR

This paper investigates how cobalt doping in phosphorene monolayers creates a two-dimensional dilute magnetic semiconductor, with tunable magnetic properties through charge doping, relevant for spintronics applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates the stabilization of cobalt defects in phosphorene and shows how charge doping can control magnetic order and induce phase transitions.

Findings

Cobalt defects are stable and electrically active in phosphorene.

Charge doping can switch magnetic order between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic.

Magnetic properties are tunable via electrostatic gating.

Abstract

Two-dimensional dilute magnetic semiconductors can provide fundamental insights in the very nature of magnetic orders and their manipulation through electron and hole doping. Despite the fundamental physics, due to the large charge density control capability in these materials, they can be extremely important in spintronics applications such as spin valve and spin-based transistors. In this article, we studied a two-dimensional dilute magnetic semiconductors consisting of phosphorene monolayer doped with cobalt atoms in substitutional and interstitial defects. We show that these defects can be stabilized and are electrically active. Furthermore, by including holes or electrons by a potential gate, the exchange interaction and magnetic order can be engineered, and may even induce a ferromagnetic-to-antiferromagnetic phase transition in p-doped phosphorene.