Frontiers in Chemistry (Dec 2022)

Electrical and magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic semiconductor MnSi2N4 monolayer

  • Dongke Chen,
  • Dongke Chen,
  • Zhengyu Jiang,
  • Ying Tang,
  • Junlei Zhou,
  • Yuzhou Gu,
  • Jing-Jing He,
  • Jiaren Yuan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2022.1103704
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

Read online

Two-dimensional antiferromagnetic semiconductors have triggered significant attention due to their unique physical properties and broad application. Based on first-principles calculations, a novel two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic material MnSi2N4 monolayer is predicted. The calculation results show that the two-dimensional MnSi2N4 prefers an antiferromagnetic state with a small band gap of 0.26 eV. MnSi2N4 has strong antiferromagnetic coupling which can be effectively tuned under strain. Interestingly, the MnSi2N4 monolayer exhibits a half-metallic ferromagnetic properties under an external magnetic field, in which the spin-up electronic state displays a metallic property, while the spin-down electronic state exhibits a semiconducting characteristic. Therefore, 100% spin polarization can be achieved. Two-dimensional MnSi2N4 monolayer has potential application in the field of high-density information storage and spintronic devices.

Keywords