First-Principles Study of 3d Transition-Metal-Atom Adsorption onto Graphene Embedded with the Extended Line Defect

A type of line defect (LD) composed of alternate squares and octagons (4-8) as the basic unit is currently an experimentally available topological defect in the graphene lattice, which brings some interesting modifications to the magnetic and electronic properties of graphene. The transitional-metal (TM) atoms adsorb on graphene with a line defect (4-8), and they show interesting and attractive structural, magnetic, and electronic properties. For different TMs such as Fe, Co, Mn, Ni, and V, the complex systems show different magnetic and electronic properties. The TM atoms can spontaneously adsorb at quadrangular sites, forming a metallic atomic chain along LD on graphene. The most stable configuration is the hollow site of a regular tangle. The TMs (TM = Co, Fe, Mn, Ni, V) tend to form extended metal lines, showing a ferromagnetic (FM) ground state. For the Co, Fe, and V atoms, the system is half-metal. The spin-alpha electron is insulating, while the spin-beta electron is conductive. For the Mn and Ni atoms, Mn-LD and Ni-LD present a spin-polarized metal; for the Fe atom, Fe-LD shows a semimetal with Dirac cones. For Fe and V atoms, both Fe-LD and V-LD show spin-polarized half-metallic properties. And its spin-alpha electron is conducting, while the spin-beta electron is insulating. Different TMs adsorbing on a graphene nanoribbon forming the same stable configurations of metal lines show different electronic properties. The adsorption of TMs induces magnetism and spin polarization. These metal lines have potential applications in spintronic devices and work as a quasi-one-dimensional metallic wire, which may form building blocks for atomic-scale electrons with well-controlled contacts at the atomic level.