Induce magnetism into silicene by embedding transition-metal atoms.

Embedding transition-metal (TM) atoms into nonmagnetic nanomaterials is an efficient way to induce magnetism. Using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigated the structural stability and magnetic properties of TM atoms from Sc to Zn embedded into silicene with single vacancy (SV) and double vacancies (DV). The binding energies for different TM atoms correlate with the TM d-shell electrons. Sc, Ti, and Co show the largest binding energies of as high as 6 eV, while Zn has the lowest binding energy of about 2 eV. The magnetic moment of silicene can be modulated by embedding TM atoms from V to Co, which mainly comes from the 3d orbitals of TM along with partly contributions from the neighboring Si atoms. Fe atom on SV and Mn atom on DV have the largest magnetic moment of more than 3 μB. In addition, we find that doping of N or C atoms on the vacancy site could greatly enhance the magnetism of the systems. Our results provide a promising approach to design silicene-based nanoelectronics and spintronics device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]