Dilute magnetic semiconductor and half metal behaviors in 3d transition-metal doped black and blue phosphorenes: a first-principles study

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to explore how doping black and blue phosphorenes with 3d transition metals affects their electronic and magnetic properties, revealing potential for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of magnetic behaviors in TM-doped phosphorenes, identifying conditions for dilute magnetic semiconductor and half-metal properties.

Findings

Black phosphorenes doped with Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni show DMS behavior.

Blue phosphorenes doped with V, Cr, Mn, Fe show DMS; Ti, Ni show half-metal.

Nonmagnetic behavior occurs with Sc and Co doping in both materials.

Abstract

We present first-principles density-functional calculations for the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of substitutional 3d transition metal (TM) impurities in two-dimensional black and blue phosphorenes. We find that the magnetic properties of such substitutional impurities can be understood in terms of a simple model based on the Hund's rule. The TM-doped black phosphorenes with Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni impurities show dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) properties while those with Sc and Co impurities show nonmagnetic properties. On the other hand, the TM-doped blue phosphorenes with V, Cr, Mn and Fe impurities show DMS properties, those with Ti and Ni impurities show half-metal properties, whereas Sc and Co doped systems show nonmagnetic properties. We identify two different regimes depending on the occupation of the hybridized electronic states of TM and phosphorous atoms: (i) bonding states are completely empty or filled for Sc- and Co-doped black and blue phosphorenes, leading to non-magnetic; (ii) non-bonding d states are partially occupied for Ti-, V-, Cr-, Mn-, Fe- and Ni-doped black and blue phosphorenes, giving rise to large and localized spin moments. These results provide a new route for the potential applications of dilute magnetic semiconductor and half-metal in spintronic devices by employing black and blue phosphorenes.