DMRG analysis of magnetic order in the zigzag edges of hexagonal CrN nanoribbons

Abstract

We investigate the finite-temperature magnetic order at the edges of hexagonal CrN nanoribbons by using density functional theory combined with the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. Moreover, the spin-dependent transport in nanoribbons is calculated within the semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. We find that the zigzag edges have lower energy with respect to armchair edges. The zigzag edges of CrN nanoribbon show half-metallic electronic character, which is the same as for the two-dimensional (2D) monolayer. The localized electronic states on the zigzag edges reduce the electronic band gap energy for spin-down electrons. The ab initio electronic results are mapped into an effective 1D Heisenberg spin model up to the next-nearest-neighbor exchange interaction term. For zigzag ribbons, the nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor magnetic exchange are around 10--12 and $\ensuremath{-}2$ to 0 $\text{meV}/\text{Cr}\phantom{\rule{4.pt}{0ex}}\text{atom}$, respectively. The finite spin correlation length in 1D nanoribbons drops sharply to zero with temperature. The absence of long-range spin correlations at the edges is a practical drawback for future room temperature 2D spintronic devices. The maximally localized Wannier functions are used for band interpolation and spin-dependent transport calculations by using the semiclassical Boltzmann equation. We show that the zigzag edges of CrN are a perfect spin filter under both electron and hole doping.