Ferromagnetism of 1T′-MoS2 Nanoribbons Stabilized by Edge Reconstruction and Its Periodic Variation on Nanoribbons Width

Nanoribbons (NRs) of two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted intensive research interests because of exotic physical properties at edges as well as tunable properties via width control. In this paper, using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we discover sensitive dependence of magnetic properties of 1T'-MoS2 NRs, that is, periodic variation of magnetic moments between 0.1 and 1.2 mu(B), on NR width (even or odd number of MoS2 units). Our results reveal that a special edge reconstruction, which is not recognized before, stabilizes the ferromagnetic (FM) ground state. Our results also suggest that the FM state could be stable under ambient condition. This study indicates a promising means to integrate multiple magnetic units for small-scale functional devices, such as information storage and spintronics, on a single piece of MoS2 NR by designing segments with different width.