Intrinsic half-metallic BN-C nanotubes

Using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate that hybrid BN-C nanotubes (BN-CNTs) have diverse electronic and magnetic properties depending on their percentage of carbon and BN components. Typically, a BN-CNT is converted from a nonmagnetic semiconductor to a spin-pola...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2010-07, Vol.97 (4), p.043115-043115-3
Main Authors: Huang, Bing, Si, Chen, Lee, Hoonkyung, Zhao, Lu, Wu, Jian, Gu, Bing-Lin, Duan, Wenhui
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate that hybrid BN-C nanotubes (BN-CNTs) have diverse electronic and magnetic properties depending on their percentage of carbon and BN components. Typically, a BN-CNT is converted from a nonmagnetic semiconductor to a spin-polarized metal and then to a nonmagnetic semiconductor by increasing the ratio of BN component. The intrinsic half-metallicity could be achieved when the percentage of carbon component in the tube is within a certain ratio, and is insensitive to the tube curvature. Our findings suggest that BN-CNTs may offer unique opportunities for developing nanoscale spintronic materials.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.3474620