Spintronic Properties of the Interface between Si(111) and 3C–SiC(111) Grown by the Method of Coordinated Substitution of Atoms

Abstract

Properties of the interface between Si(111) and 3C–SiC(111) grown by the method of coordinated substitution of atoms have been studied using the density-functional method within the spin-polarized approximation. The most favorable atomic configuration at the interface has been found. It is shown that SiC faces Si with a carbon plane, and SiC detaches 3 out of 16 Si atoms from the second layer of substrate atoms. As a result, three Si atoms in the substrate have three bonds each (instead of four), while three C atoms in the lower layer of the SiC film also have three bonds. These atoms have a magnetic moment owing to unpaired p electrons. It is established that this interface is a typical semiconductor with respect to up-spin electron and a two-dimensional ferromagnetic metal relative to down-spin electron.