Spintronic devices based on graphene nanoribbons with transition metal impurities. Towards space applications

Abstract

Very recent publications draw the attention to a possible revolution that nanotechnology can cause in aviation. The effervescence in the peak field of nanomaterials is remarkable, as evidenced by the number of Nobel prizes recently awarded. A class of nanomaterials, the nanosensors, whose object of study is the present work, represents a special interest in space applications. More specifically, this article proposes the synthesis of a nanosensor based on active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in the graphene nanoribbons (GNR), the strongest known substance. Thus, the physical model, a GNR, is electrically connected to two electrodes. Different variations of Mn (Manganese) impurities in graphene, with the spins having preset configurations, are considered. When a magnetic field is detected, their spin change causing changes in the total energy and hence the variation of transmission function. Therefore, the concept of active control, which originated in the flight control and structural vibration problems, is naturally extended herein to the nanosensors synthesis. The used physico-mathematical model to determine the spin transport and the transmission function is based on density functional theory, Kohn-Sham equations and the SIESTA package. The differences between distinct GNR excited states were determined and it was established that the energy range overlaps the mid-infrared wavelengths. Therefore, structures of this kind may serve in spatial applications which exploit the infrared atmospheric window.

Keywords

• nanomaterials
• nanosensors
• graphene nanoribbons (GNR)
• spintronics
• active control
• Schrödinger equation
• density functional theory (DFT)