Anomalous exchange interaction between intrinsic spins in conducting graphene systems

Abstract

We address the nature and possible observable consequences of singular one-electron states that appear when strong defects are introduced in the metallic family of graphene, namely, metallic carbon nanotubes and nanotori. In its simplest form, after creating two defects on the same sublattice, a state may emerge at the Fermi energy presenting very unusual properties: It is unique, normalizable, and features a wave function equally distributed around both defects. As a result, the exchange coupling between the magnetic moments generated by the two defects is anomalous. The intrinsic spins couple ferromagnetically, as expected, but do not present an antiferromagnetic excited state at any distance. We propose the use of metallic carbon nanotubes as a novel electronic device based on this anomalous coupling between spins which can be useful for the robust transmission of magnetic information at large distances.