Intrinsic ferromagnetism in hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets

Abstract

Understanding the mechanism of ferromagnetism in hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets, which possess only s and p electrons in comparison with normal ferromagnets based on localized d or f electrons, is a current challenge. In this work, we report an experimental finding that the ferromagnetic coupling is an intrinsic property of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets, which has never been reported before. Moreover, we further confirm it from ab initio calculations. We show that the measured ferromagnetism should be attributed to the localized π states at edges, where the electron-electron interaction plays the role in this ferromagnetic ordering. More importantly, we demonstrate such edge-induced ferromagnetism causes a high Curie temperature well above room temperature. Our systematical work, including experimental measurements and theoretical confirmation, proves that such unusual room temperature ferromagnetism in hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets is edge-dependent, similar to widely reported graphene-based materials. It is believed that this work will open new perspectives for hexagonal boron nitride spintronic devices.

Metal-free Ternary BCN Nanosheets with Synergetic Effect of Band Gap Engineering and Magnetic Properties

“…6c and d). The weak hysteresis loops indicate weak FM behavior of both samples, which is close to the previous reports 3, 14 . Figure 3d shows that saturation magnetization ( M s ) of BCN nanosheets are 0.004, 0.068, and 0.134 emu/g (0.12 μ B /C); the corresponding coercive fields ( H C ) are 25, 61, and 81 Oe, respectively.…”

“…Thus, band gap engineering and inducing stable ferromagnetism ( FM ) are equally important for BNNSs. Until now, FM has been achieved experimentally in BNNSs through defects 14 or dopants 15 control. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the demonstration of controlling the band gap and optical properties of metal-free element doped BNNSs.…”

Room-Temperature Magnetism of Ceria Nanocubes by Inductively Transferring Electrons to Ce Atoms from Nearby Oxygen Vacancy

“…In addition, vacancies in some other non-magnetic materials can also induce magnetism. Si et al [19] found that vacancies in hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (h-BN) could generate magnetic moments and form ferromagnetism, and they conducted some experiments to test their discovery.…”

d° Ferromagnetism of Magnesium Oxide

“…Magnetism which arises due to completely-filled or unfilled d-/f-orbitals is known as d • ferromagnetism and is a wide field of study for the scientific community from a phenomenological point of view [4][5][6][7][8]. To date, this magnetism is observed in a variety of materials with different sources of origin and is classified accordingly [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

“…Thus, materials with partially-filled d-/f-orbitals exhibit this phenomenon [1][2][3]. Apart from this, magnetic behavior of certain materials with completely-filled or zero-filled d-/f-shells is also observed and has remained under debate among researchers during the last decade [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”