In view of important role of inducing and manipulating the magnetism in two-dimensional materials for the development of low-dimensional spintronic devices, the influences of strain on electronic structure and magnetic properties of commonly observed vacancies doped monolayer MoS2 are investigated using first-principles calculations. It is shown that unstrained VS, VS2, and VMoS3 doped monolayer MoS2 systems are nonmagnetic, while the ground state of unstrained VMoS6 doped system is magnetic and the magnetic moment is contributed mainly by six Mo atoms around VMoS6. In particular, tensile strain can induce magnetic moments in VS, VS2, and VMoS3 doped monolayer MoS2 due to the breaking of Mo–Mo metallic bonds around the vacancies, while the magnetization induced by VMoS6 can be effectively manipulated by equibiaxial strain due to the change of Mo–Mo metallic bonds around VMoS6 under strains.

β-Zn4Sb3 has one of the highest ZT reported for binary compounds, but its practical applications have been hindered by a reported poor stability. Here we report the fabrication of nearly dense single-phase β-Zn4Sb3 and a study of its thermoelectric transport coefficients across a wide temperature range. Around 425 K we find an abrupt decrease of its thermal conductivity. Past this point, Zn atoms can migrate from crystalline sites to interstitial positions; β-Zn4Sb3 becomes metastable and gradually decomposes into Zn(hcp) and ZnSb. However, above 565 K it recovers its stability; in fact, the damage caused by decomposition can be repaired completely. This is key to its excellent thermoelectric performance at high temperature: the maximum ZT reaches 1.4. Molecular dynamics simulations are used to shed light on the microscopic behavior of the material.

No abstract