Effect of atom adsorption on the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of the GeP monolayer: A first-principle study

Abstract First-principles calculations have been carried out to explore the effect of atom surface adsorption on the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of the germanium phosphide (GeP) monolayer. It is shown that the GeP monolayer exhibits good adsorption capability to all the selected adatoms and can preserve the structural integrity upon the adsorption of most adatoms. The adatoms can bring out diverse electronic properties to the GeP monolayer. The H, Li, Na, K, and Al adatoms donate electrons to the GeP monolayer and result in its metallization. The other adatoms do not change the semiconducting nature of the GeP monolayer and will induce midgap states (Mg, Ca, Si, Ge, Ag, and Au) or reduce the bandgaps (Ni, Pd, and Pt). The B, N, P, As, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Co adatoms induce spin magnetic moments into the GeP monolayer. Especially, the spin magnetic moments are mainly located on the adatoms for the GeP decorated with the V, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Co atoms. As a result, the dilute magnetic semiconductor can be obtained. In addition, all the adatoms decrease the work function, except O. Thus, some effects on the optical properties are highly expected. The GeP monolayer exhibits a wide range of light absorption and the Mg, Si, Ge, Cu, Ag, Au, and Pt adatoms can further redshift the absorption edge of the GeP monolayer along the x and y directions. Our calculations provide an effective method to modulate the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of the GeP monolayer for device applications.