Bistability of zigzag edge magnetism in graphene nanoribbons induced by electric field

In the presence of the Hubbard interaction, graphene zigzag nanoribbons have spontaneous edge magnetism with anti-parallel configuration, whose amplitude can be tuned by a transversal electric field. As the electric field increases or decreases across a critical value, the edges are demagnetized or re-magnetized, respectively. A magnetic field at each edge determines the orientation of the re-magnetization. Thus, a combination of a slowly varying transversal electric field and magnetic field in monolayer graphene zigzag nanoribbons can drive the quantum system into a bistability loop. The same phenomenon can be induced in a bilayer/monolayer zigzag nanoribbon without the magnetic field, because the non-symmetry superexchange interaction controls the orientation of the re-magnetization. In this way, the quantum system is switched between ground state and quasi-stable excited state with different magnetism, band structures and conductance. This feature could be used to develop graphene-based spintronic nano-devices without magnetic field. (paper)