Spin transport properties for B-doped zigzag silicene nanoribbons with different edge hydrogenations

Exploring silicon-based spin modulating junction is one of the most promising areas of spintronics. Using nonequilibrium Green's function combined with density functional theory, a set of spin filters of hydrogenated zigzag silicene nanoribbons is designed by substituting a silicon atom with a boron one and the spin-correlated transport properties are studied. The results show that the spin polarization can be realized by structural symmetry breaking induced by boron doping. Remarkably, by tuning the edge hydrogenation, it is found that the spin filter efficiency can be varied from 30% to 58%. Moreover, it is also found and explained that the asymmetric hydrogenation can give rise to an obvious negative differential resistance which usually appears at weakly coupled junction. These findings indicate that the boron-doped ZSiNR is a promising material for spintronic applications.

Automated summary

Exploring silicon-based spin modulating junction is a promising area of spintronics. In this study, a set of spin filters of hydrogenated zigzag silicene nanoribbons is designed by substituting a silicon atom with a boron one, and the spin-correlated transport properties are studied. The results show that spin polarization can be achieved by structural symmetry breaking induced by boron doping. Moreover, by tuning the edge hydrogenation, the efficiency of the spin filter can be varied, and it is also found that asymmetric hydrogenation can lead to negative differential resistance.