Electrically controllable spin conductance of zigzag silicene nanoribbons in the presence of anti-ferromagnetic exchange field

We study spin-dependent electron transport properties of zigzag silicene nanoribbons in the presence of anti-ferromagnetic exchange field using a nonequilibrium Green׳s function method. Applying a transverse electric field, spin splitting can take place and the silicene nanoribbon can work as a spin filter. The spin polarization is calculated and it is shown that the spin filtering is perfect and the spin states of electrons are fully coherent. The spin direction of transmitted electrons through the silicene filter can be easily controlled by changing the transverse electric field direction. Using Hubbard model, we take into account the electron-electron interaction and we find that although this interaction causes some changes in the electron conductance, it has no destructive effect on spin filtering properties. The effect of a single vacancy on electron transport is also investigated and it is found that, the vacancy causes to decrease the electron conductance; however, the spin-dependent properties remain the same. The vacancy in the near of the edges of nanoribbon has less destructive effect on electron conductance than that in the middle.