Spin Transport in Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbon with a Flower Defect

Abstract

Flower defect in graphene is observed in the experiment and can be generated by electron beam exposure. In this work, we investigate the spin-polarized transport through zigzag graphene nanoribbons containing a flower defect by using nonequilibrium Green’s functions in combination with the density functional theory. We found high spin polarization in Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbon (ZGNR) with a flower defect. The dependence of spin polarization on the width of ZGNR is also studied. The underlying mechanism is analyzed through the flower defect–induced different distributions of spin up and spin down local density of states.