Tunable room-temperature ferromagnetism in the SiC monolayer

Abstract

It is essential to explore two-dimensional (2D) material with magnetic ordering in new generation spintronic devices. Particularly, the seeking of room-temperature 2D ferromagnetic (FM) materials is a hot topic of current research. Here, we study magnetism of the Mn-doped and electron-doped SiC monolayer using first-principle calculations. For the Mn-doped SiC monolayer, we find that either electron or hole could mediate the ferromagnetism in the system and the Curie temperature ($T_C$) can be improved by appropriate carrier doping. The codoping strategy is also discussed on improving $T_C$. The transition between antiferromagnetic and FM phase can be found by strain engineering. The $T_C$ is improved above room temperature (RT) under the strain larger than $0.06$. Moreover, the Mn-doped SiC monolayer develops half-metal at the strain range of $0.05-0.1$. On the other hand, the direct electron doping can induce ferromagnetism due to the van Hove singularity in density of states of the conduction band edge of the SiC monolayer. The $T_C$ is found to be around RT. These fascinating controllable electronic and magnetic properties are desired for spintronic applications.