A first-principles study on the electronic and magnetic properties of armchair SiC/AlN nanoribbons

Under the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), the electronic and magnetic properties of armchair SiC/AlN nanoribbons have been investigated by using the first-principles projector-augmented wave (PAW) potential within the density function theory (DFT) framework. The unpassivated SiC but not AlN edge can cause magnetic moments of the nanoribbons. The net up-spin charge mainly accumulates at C1, C2 and Si1 sites for ferromagnetic nanoribbons. The increasing concentration of Si-C chains has little effect on the magnetic properties of the nanoribbon, whereas the number of the dangling bonds caused by Si and C atoms strongly affects the magnetic of the system.