Many-body effects in the spin-polarized electron transport through graphene nanoislands

Abstract

Spin-polarized electron transport through zigzag-edged graphene nanoislands is studied within the framework of the Pariser-Parr-Pople Hamiltonian. By including both short- and long-range electron-electron interactions, the electron conductance is calculated self-consistently for the hexagonal model on various substrates from which we are able to identify the effects of the many-body interactions in the electron transport. For the system in its lowest antiferromagnetic (AFM) state, the long-range interactions are shown to have negligible effect on the electron transport in the low-energy region in which the conductance is found quenched mainly by the short-range interactions. As the system is excited to its second AFM state, the short- and long-range interactions are found to have opposite effects on the electron transmission, i.e., the electron transmission is found to increase with either the suppression of the long-range interactions or the enhancement of the short-range interactions. When the system moves further into the ferromagnetic state, the conductance becomes spin dependent and its resonance is shown to exhibit a blue shift in an environment with stronger long-range interactions. The distinct impact of short- and long-range electron-electron interactions are attributed to their different effects on the spin polarization in the model system.