Possible Magnetism of Be-Doped Boron Nitride Nanotubes

We studied the electronic and magnetic properties of pristine and Be-doped (5, 5) boron nitride (BN) nanotubes using density functional theory within a generalized gradient approximation. We found that the pristine (5, 5) BN nanotube is an indirect band gap material, which is in agreement with previous findings. Doping with Be induces spontaneous magnetization (similar to 1 mu(B)/Be atom) in the (5, 5) BN nanotube. The defect states are not localized to the Be atoms themselves, but spread out over their neighboring B and N atoms. In particular, the system becomes a half metal when Be is substituted for B.