Hydrogen adsorption induced nanomagnetism at the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface

Abstract

The creation of magnetism on nonmagnetic semiconductor surfaces is of importance for the realization of spintronics devices. In particular, the coupling of electron spins within quantum nanostructures can be utilized for nanomagnetism applications. Here, we demonstrate, based on first-principles density-functional theory calculations, that the adsorption of H atoms on the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface induces the spin polarization of surrounding Si dangling bonds (DBs) and their spin orderings. It is revealed that the H adsorption on a rest-atom site exhibits a Jahn-Teller-like distortion that accompanies a charge transfer from the rest atom to the nearest-neighboring adatoms. This charge transfer increases the local density of states of three such adatoms at the Fermi level, thereby inducing a Stoner-type instability to produce a ferrimagnetic order of adatom DBs around the adsorbed H atom. Meanwhile, the H adsorption on an adatom site cannot induce spin polarization, but, as adsorbed H atoms increase, the ferrimagnetic order of rest-atom DBs emerges through the charge transfer from rest atoms to adatoms. Our findings provide a microscopic mechanism of the H-induced spin orderings of Si DBs at the atomic scale, which paves the way for the design of nanoscale magnetism in the representative semiconductor surface.