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Electric‐field‐induced magnetism of first‐row d 0 semiconductor nanowires and nanotubes
Author(s) -
Gu Gangxu,
Xiang Gang,
Lan Mu,
Zhang Xi
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201451519
Subject(s) - condensed matter physics , nanowire , magnetism , electric field , materials science , magnetization , band gap , delocalized electron , semiconductor , magnetic field , carbon nanotube , nanotechnology , physics , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics
Our first‐principles calculations reveal that a transverse electric field ( F ) can induce and modulate spontaneous magnetization in defect‐free first‐row d 0 semiconductor (ZnO, GaN and InN) nanowires (NWs) and nanotubes (NTs). Under F , the band gap is reduced, and the mixing of the valence band edge (VBE) states is different from that of the conduction band edge (CBE) states due to the different delocalization tendencies of the bands. After the band gap is closed at a critical F value, separation of charges and localization of holes occur owing to the exotic electronic structure. Quantitative studies indicate that the presence of spontaneous magnetization is caused by localization of sufficient 2p holes around O/N at one side of the nanostructures, and the critical F value decreases as the diameter increases. Since it is easy to apply and unapply an external electric field in practice, our results provide a viable way for inducing and tuning magnetic properties of d 0 semiconductor nanostructures.