Magnetic interactions between radical pairs in chiral graphene nanoribbons

Open-shell graphene nanoribbons have become promising candidates for future applications, including quantum technologies. Here, we characterize magnetic states hosted by chiral graphene nanoribbons (chGNRs). The substitution of a hydrogen atom at the chGNR edge by a ketone effectively adds one pz el...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Wang, Tao, Sanz, Sofía, Castro-Esteban, Jesús, Lawrence, James, Berdonces-Layunta, Alejandro, Mohammed, Mohammed S. G., Vilas-Varela, Manuel, Corso, Martina, Peña, Diego, Frederiksen, Thomas, Oteyza, Dimas G. de
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/275182
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/275182
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Magnetism
Spin interaction
Graphene nanoribbon
Heteroatom substitution
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Density functional theory
Descripción
Sumario:Open-shell graphene nanoribbons have become promising candidates for future applications, including quantum technologies. Here, we characterize magnetic states hosted by chiral graphene nanoribbons (chGNRs). The substitution of a hydrogen atom at the chGNR edge by a ketone effectively adds one pz electron to the π-electron network, producing an unpaired π-radical. A similar scenario occurs for regular ketone-functionalized chGNRs in which one ketone is missing. Two such radical states can interact via exchange coupling, and we study those interactions as a function of their relative position, which includes a remarkable dependence on the chirality, as well as on the nature of the surrounding ribbon, that is, with or without ketone functionalization. Besides, we determine the parameters whereby this type of system with oxygen heteroatoms can be adequately described within the widely used mean-field Hubbard model. Altogether, we provide insight to both theoretically model and devise GNR-based nanostructures with tunable magnetic properties.