Designing Antiferromagnetic Spin-1/2 Chains in Janus Fullerene Nanoribbons

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to induce and control antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains in Janus fullerene nanoribbons by adding C60 cages, enabling potential applications in spintronics and quantum phases.

Contribution

It introduces a novel design for magnetic edge states in fullerene nanoribbons using C60 cages, demonstrating their stability and potential for scalable spin-based devices.

Findings

Formation of antiferromagnetic ground state in nanoribbons

Unpaired π-electron due to odd intermolecular bonds

Potential for experimental realization of magnetic edge states

Abstract

We design antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains in fullerene nanoribbons by introducing extra C$_{60}$ cages at one of their edges. The resulting odd number of intermolecular bonds induces an unpaired $\pi$-electron and hence a quantised magnetic moment in otherwise non-magnetic nanoribbons. We further reveal the formation of an antiferromagnetic ground state upon the linear arrangement of spin-1/2 C$_{60}$ cages that is insensitive to the specific structural motifs. Compared with graphene nanoribbons, Janus fullerene nanoribbons may offer an experimentally more accessible route to magnetic edge states with atomic precision in low-dimensional carbon nanostructures, possibly serving as a versatile nanoarchitecture for scalable spin-based devices and the exploration of many-body quantum phases.