Tailoring Graphene Spintronics from first Principles

Graphene/ferromagnet junctions provide large spin signals and important opportunities for spintronic devices [1,2]. However, for critical studies of such structures it is crucial to establish accurate predictive methods that would yield atomically-resolved information of interfacial properties and incorporate van der Walls interactions. We formulate a computationally-inexpensive model to study spin injection and proximity effects [3] and apply our finding to magneto-logic gates [2] using Ni(111) or Co(0001) as the ferromagnetic electrode. We show that spin polarization maps can be a versatile tool to tailor materials properties for graphene spintronics and explore their relation to computationally more demanding nonequilibrium transport codes [4]. [1] W. Han et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 167202 (2010); I. Neumann et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 103,112401 (2013). [2] H. Dery et al., IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 59, 259 (2012). [3] G. M. Siphai et al., J. Phys. Cond. Matter (in press); P. Lazic et al., preprint. [4] K. K. Saha, et al., Phys. Rev. B 85, 184426 (2012).