Spin splitting and electric field modulated electron-hole pockets in antimonene nanoribbons

One-dimensional nanoribbons: A platform for probing exotic magnetoresistance Electrically-tunable electron-hole pockets could make antimonene nanoribbons a platform for probing unusual magnetoresistance effects. Some material changes their resistance when a magnetic field is applied—an effect known as magnetoresistance. This phenomenon is harnessed for a range of technological applications but the origin of the recently observed large, non-saturating magnetoresistance in certain materials is somewhat puzzling. Using first-principles calculations, Wenbo Mi and Yan Song from Tianjin University, along with Xiaocha Wang from Tianjin University of Technology, predict that one-dimensional antimonene nanoribbons with a zigzag asymmetric washboard structure could have electron-hole pockets, which are the key features necessary for observing a non-saturating magnetoresistance. As these pockets could be modulated using in-plane electric fields, these nanoribbons could be a tunable platform for probing this exotic phenomenon.