Electric-field-induced Spontaneous Magnetization and Phase Transitions in Zigzag Boron Nitride Nanotubes

We demonstrate an alternative scheme for realizing spin polarizations in semiconductor nanostructures by an all-electric way. The electronic and magnetic properties of the model system, zigzag pristine boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), are investigated under a transverse electric field (E) through spin-polarized density functional theory calculations. As E increases, the band gap of BNNTs is reduced due to charge redistribution induced by the asymmetry of electrostatic potential energy, and BNNTs experience rich phase transitions, such as semiconductor-metal transition and nonmagnetic (NM) metal-ferromagnetic (FM) metal transitions. Electric-field-induced magnetization occurs when a sufficiently high density of states at the Fermi level in the vicinity of metal-insulator transition is reached due to the redistribution of electronic bands and charge transferring across the BNNTs. Further analysis show that the spontaneous magnetization is derived from the localized nature of the 2p states of B and N, and the ferromagnetic coupling is stabilized by Zener’s double-exchange mechanism. Our results may provide a viable way to realize spintronic devices for applications.