Large edge magnetism in oxidized few-layer black phosphorus nanomeshes

© 2017, Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. The formation and control of a room-temperature magnetic order in two-dimensional (2D) materials is a challenging quest for the advent of innovative magnetic- and spintronic-based technologies. To date, edge magnetism in 2D materials has been experimentally observed in hydrogen (H)-terminated graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and graphene nanomeshes (GNMs), but the measured magnetization remains far too small to allow envisioning practical applications. Herein, we report experimental evidences of large room-temperature edge ferromagnetism (FM) obtained from oxygen (O)-terminated zigzag pore edges of few-layer black phosphorus (P) nanomeshes (BPNMs). The magnetization values per unit area are ~100 times larger than those reported for H-terminated GNMs, while the magnetism is absent for H-terminated BPNMs. The magnetization measurements and the first-principles simulations suggest that the origin of such a magnetic order could stem from ferromagnetic spin coupling between edge P with O atoms, resulting in a strong spin localization at the edge valence band, and from uniform oxidation of full pore edges over a large area and interlayer spin interaction. Our findings pave the way for realizing high-efficiency 2D flexible magnetic and spintronic devices without the use of rare magnetic elements. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]