Doping Dy improves magnetism and electricity in hexagonal boron nitride

Abstract

Dy-doped hexagonal boron nitride with a circular flaky structure and a diameter of 50 nm was prepared through high-temperature reduction reactions. The hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (hBNNSs) exhibit both room-temperature ferromagnetism and semiconductor conductivity properties. Doping with Dy transforms hBNNSs from insulators to magnetic semiconductors. The saturation magnetization of hBNNSs with a Dy doping content of 0.58 at.% at room temperature is 0.1405 emu/g. This suggests that the Curie temperature of Dy-doped hBNNSs is above room temperature. With increasing temperature, the current of the hBN film rises, demonstrating semiconductor conductive behavior. First-principles calculations indicate that the magnetic properties of the material primarily arise from the f-orbital electrons of the Dy element, while the electrical properties are mainly attributed to the Fermi energy level crossing of the conduction band, influenced by the f-orbital and d-orbital electrons of the Dy element.