Room temperature magnetism on the zigzag edges of phosphorene nanoribbons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that phosphorene nanoribbons exhibit strong ferromagnetic edge states at room temperature due to weak interactions, making them promising for spintronics applications.

Contribution

It reveals, using large-scale quantum Monte-Carlo methods, that phosphorene nanoribbons can host room temperature ferromagnetic edge magnetism, a novel finding in 2D materials.

Findings

Strong ferromagnetic correlations along zigzag edges.

High Curie temperature up to room temperature.

Edge magnetism induced by weak interactions.

Abstract

Searching for room temperature ferromagnetic semiconductors has evolved into a broad field of material science and spintronics for decades, nevertheless, these novel states remain rare. Phosphorene, a monolayer black phosphorus with a puckered honeycomb lattice structure possessing a finite band gap and high carrier mobility, has been synthesized recently. Here we show, by means of two different large scale quantum Monte-Carlo methods, that relatively weak interactions can lead to remarkable edge magnetism in the phosphorene nanoribbons. The ground state constrained path quantum Monte-Carlo simulations reveal strong ferromagnetic correlations along the zigzag edges, and the finite temperature determinant quantum Monte-Carlo calculations show a high Curie temperature up to room temperature.