Tuning magnetism of monolayer MoS2 by doping vacancy and applying strain

In view of important role of inducing and manipulating the magnetism in two-dimensional materials for the development of low-dimensional spintronic devices, the influences of strain on electronic structure and magnetic properties of commonly observed vacancies doped monolayer MoS2 are investigated using first-principles calculations. It is shown that unstrained V-S, V-S2, and V-MoS3 doped monolayer MoS2 systems are nonmagnetic, while the ground state of unstrained V-MoS6 doped system is magnetic and the magnetic moment is contributed mainly by six Mo atoms around V-MoS6. In particular, tensile strain can induce magnetic moments in V-S, V-S2, and V-MoS3 doped monolayer MoS2 due to the breaking of Mo-Mo metallic bonds around the vacancies, while the magnetization induced by V-MoS6 can be effectively manipulated by equibiaxial strain due to the change of Mo-Mo metallic bonds around V-MoS6 under strains. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.