Tunable half-metallicity and edge magnetism of H-saturated InSe nanoribbons

We report on a theoretical study of electronic and magnetic properties of hydrogen-saturated InSe nanoribbons (H-ZISNs). Based on hybrid-functional first-principles calculations, we find that H-ZISNs exhibit tunable half-metallicity and short-range ferromagnetic order. We first show that p-type doping turns narrow H-ZISNs from semimetal to half-metal with spin polarization along the In-terminated edge. This behavior is further analyzed in terms of a two-band tight-binding model, which provides a tractable description of the H-ZISN electronic structure, and serves as a starting point for the determination of magnetic interactions. The dominant exchange interaction determined within the Heisenberg model is found to be ferromagnetic independently of the ribbon width and charge doping. Short-range stability of magnetic order is assessed in terms of the zero-field spin correlation length, which is found to be about 1 nm at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Finally, by calculating spin-dependent transport properties, we find a doping regime in which strongly spin-selective electrical conductivities can be observed. Our findings suggest that H-ZISNs are appealing candidates for the realization of spintronic effects at the nanoscale.