Fully spin-polarized transport induced by B doping in graphene nanoribbons

B-doping induced spin polarization in zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons is studied by density functional calculations by two kinds of doping: (1) doping only one B atom in the central scattering region; (2) periodically doping in the whole system. It is found that even a single B dopant may cause large spin polarization in the current, which can be understood by the breaking of spin-degeneracy due to the impurity atoms and the Fermi level shift resulting from the hole-donating of the B atoms. More interestingly, 100% spin polarized current under finite bias is obtained through periodical doping although the transmission function around the Fermi level is not 100% spin polarized. This can be interpreted by a rigid shift model of the special band structures of the left and right leads in this case. It demonstrates that only transmission function at equilibrium conditions is not sufficient in the study of electron transport, but current should be considered in certain situations.