We investigate the electronic structure of carbon nanotubes functionalized by adsorbates anchored with single C-C covalent bonds. We find that, despite the particular adsorbate, a spin moment with a universal value of 1.0 $mu_B$ per molecule is induc
ed at low coverage. Therefore, we propose a mechanism of bonding-induced magnetism at the carbon surface. The adsorption of a single molecule creates a dispersionless defect state at the Fermi energy, which is mainly localized in the carbon wall and presents a small contribution from the adsorbate. This universal spin moment is fairly independent of the coverage as long as all the molecules occupy the same graphenic sublattice. The magnetic coupling between adsorbates is also studied and reveals a key dependence on the graphenic sublattice adsorption site.
Magnetic properties of graphenic carbon nanostructures, relevant for future spintronic applications, depend crucially on doping and on the presence of defects. In this paper we study the magnetism of the recently detected substitutional Ni (Ni(sub))
impurities. Ni(sub) defects are non-magnetic in flat graphene and develop a non-zero magnetic moment only in metallic nanotubes. This surprising behavior stems from the peculiar curvature dependence of the electronic structure of Ni(sub). A similar magnetic/non-magnetic transition of Ni(sub) can be expected by applying anisotropic strain to a flat graphene layer.
