Spin polarization in graphene nanoribbons functionalized with nitroxide

Fine-tuning of magnetic states via an understanding of spin injection on the edge of graphene nanoribbons should allow for greater flexibility of the design of graphene-based spintronics. On the basis of calculations, we predict that coupling constants of the exchange interaction in the series of nitroxide-functionalized ribbon compounds are antiferromagnetic across the ribbons with values 0.2–0.4 cm ⁻¹ and ferromagnetic along the ribbon with absolute values from 0.05 to 0.07 cm ⁻¹ . Such interacting nitroxide groups induce spin polarization of the edge states of stable graphene nanoribbons.