Magnetism in armchair BC2N nanoribbons.

We show by first-principles calculations that H-terminated armchair BC₂N nanoribbons (a-BC₂NNRs) have exceptional electronic and magnetic properties. In particular, a-BC₂NNRs with the B and N atoms uncoordinated can be either p- or n-doped semiconductors, and the wide ones own spontaneous magnetization. It is shown that the magnetism is induced by the localization of acceptor or donor levels from unpaired B or N atoms, and the magnetic moment increases with further increasing ribbon width. The a-BC₂NNRs with B and N atoms coordinated have band gaps decreasing with increasing ribbon width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]