The electronic and magnetic properties of h-BN/MoS2 heterostructures intercalated with 3d transition metal atoms

We performed density functional theory calculations to investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of h-BN/MoS2 heterostructures intercalated with 3d transition-metal (TM) atoms, including V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni atoms. It was found that metal and magnetic semiconductor characteristics are induced in the h-BN/MoS2 heterostructures after intercalating TMs. In addition, the results demonstrate that h-BN sheets could promote charge transfer between the TMs and the heterogeneous structure. Specifically, the h-BN/MoS2 heterostructure transforms from an indirect semiconductor to a metal after intercalating V or Cr atoms in the interlayers. For Mn, Fe, and Co atoms, the bandgaps of the intercalated heterojunction systems become smaller when the spin polarization is 100% at the highest occupied molecular orbital level. However, the system intercalated with Ni atoms exhibits no spin polarization and non-magnetic character. Strong covalent-bonding interactions emerged between the intercalated TMs and the nearest S atom of the h-BN/MoS2 heterostructure. In addition, the magnetic moments of the TM atoms show a decreasing trend for all the interstitial intercalated heterostructures compared with their free-standing states. These results reveal that h-BN/MoS2 heterostructures with intercalated TMs are promising candidates for application in multifarious spintronic devices.

Effects of Se substitution and transition metal doping on the electronic and magnetic properties of a MoSxSe2-x/h-BN heterostructure

The van der Waals heterostructures created by stacking two monolayer semiconductors have been rapidly developed experimentally and exhibit various unique physical properties. In this work, we investigate the effects of Se atom substitution and 3d-TM atom doping on the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of the MoSe2/h-BN heterostructure, by using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). It is found that Se atom substitution could considerably enhance the band gaps of MoSe2/h-BN heterostructures. With an increase in the substitution concentration, the energy band changes from an indirect to a direct band gap when the substitution concentration exceeds a critical value. For 3d-TM atom doping, it is shown that V-, Mn-, Fe-, and Co-doped systems exhibit a half-metallic state and magnetic behavior, while there is no spin polarization in the Ni-doped case. The results provide a theoretical basis for the development of diluted magnetic semiconductors and spin devices based on the MoSxSe2-x/h-BN heterostructure.