The spin-filter capability and giant magnetoresistance effect in vanadium–naphthalene sandwich cluster

Abstract

Using density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s function technique, we performed theoretical investigations on the magnetic and transport properties of V2n(C10H8)n+1 (n=1–4) sandwich clusters. For the ground states, our results show that all the clusters are stable and possess ferromagnetic orders. The smaller clusters have higher stabilities, and our predictions are in agreement with the experimental observation. The double exchange mechanism plays an important role in determining the magnetic properties of the systems. Furthermore, with Ni as electrodes, the clusters exhibit interesting transport properties such as significant spin-filter capability, negative differential resistance feature and giant magnetoresistance effect. These findings suggest that V2n(C10H8)n+1 sandwiches are excellent candidates for application in spintronics and organic electronics.