Spin-dependent electronic transport properties of zigzag silicon carbon nanoribbon

Abstract

Spin-dependent electronic transport properties of the zigzag silicon carbon nanoribbon (Z-SiCNR) are studied by employing the non-equilibrium Green's function method in the framework of density functional theory. It is found that the Z-SiCNR exhibits a variety of exotic physical properties. While the Z-SiCNR in the metallic FM state presents spin filtering and current-limited effects, it is shown that the abnormal oscillation of spin-polarized currents with spin polarization as high as 100% under a certain bias voltage emerges in the half-metallic AFM state. The results demonstrate that tuning the spin state of the zigzag SiC nanoribbon provides a possible avenue to design next generation spin nanodevices with novel functionalities.