Half-metallic antiferromagnets induced by non-magnetic adatoms on bilayer silicene

Transition metal-free magnetism and two-dimensional p-state half-metals have been a fascinating subject of research due to their potential applications in nanoelectronics and spintronics. By applying density functional theory calculations, we predict that bilayer silicene can be an interlayer antiferromagnetic ground state. Interestingly, the half-metallicity is realized by adsorbing non-magnetic atoms on the antiferromagnetic bilayer silicene in the absence of transition magnetic atoms, nanoribbons, ferromagnetic substrates and magnetic field. Then, on the basis of first principles calculations and theoretical analysis, we show that the realization of half-metallicity is induced by the split of antiferromagnetic degeneracy due to the localization of transfer charge from the adatom to silicene. Our findings may open a new avenue to silicene-based electronic and spintronic devices.