Ab Initio Investigations of Gallium Nitride Nanoribbons for Spin Filter and Negative Differential Behavior

Abstract

This work demonstrates the influence of alternative edge passivation via H/F on the electronic and magnetic characteristics of gallium nitride nanoribbons (GaNNRs). For this study, the first-principles density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium green function (NEGF) frameworks are deployed. Our study demonstrates that the selective edge passivation with F/H zigzag GaN nanoribbon (NR) is a strong contender for spintronics due to its half-metallic property under specific conditions. Various nano-configurations for the H/F ZGaNNRs passivation are investigated here. Thermodynamically, most stable configuration is alternate fluorinated F-GaN-F NR. Further, the negative differential resistance (NDR) behavior is also reported along with the perfect spin-filtering properties. This study paves the way to employ these 2-D nanostructures-based devices for spin filters, spin logic switches, and steep switching nanoelectronic devices.