Understanding disorder in 2D materials: the case of carbon doping of Silicene

TL;DR

This study explores how carbon doping affects the electronic and magnetic properties of silicene, revealing disorder-induced transitions and potential for nanoelectronic applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates control over electronic phases in silicene through dopant positioning, highlighting the interplay of disorder and correlation effects in 2D materials.

Findings

Carbon doping induces a Mott-Anderson transition.

Band gap varies with lattice disorder and correlations.

Doped silicene remains ferromagnetic despite disorder.

Abstract

We investigate the effect of lattice disorder and local correlation effects in finite and periodic silicene structures caused by carbon doping using first-principles calculations. For both finite and periodic silicene structures, the electronic properties carbon-doped monolayers are dramatically changed by controlling the doping sites in the structures, which is related to the amount of disorder introduced in the lattice and electron-electron correlation effects. By changing the position of the carbon dopants, we found that a Mott-Anderson transition is achieved. Moreover, the band gap is determined by the level of lattice disorder and electronic correlation effects. Finally, these structures are ferromagnetic even under disorder which has potential applications in Si-based nanoelectronics, such as field-effect transistors (FETs).