Strain-induced magnetism in ReS₂ monolayer with defects

We investigate the effects of strain on the electronic and magnetic properties of ReS₂ monolayer with sulfur vacancies using density functional theory. Unstrained ReS₂ monolayer with monosulfur vacancy (V_S) and disulfur vacancy (V_2S) both are nonmagnetic. However, as strain increases to 8%, V_S-doped ReS₂ monolayer appears a magnetic half-metal behavior with zero total magnetic moment. In particular, for V_2S-doped ReS₂ monolayer, the system becomes a magnetic semiconductor under 6% strain, in which Re atoms at vicinity of vacancy couple anti-ferromagnetically with each other, and continues to show a ferromagnetic metal characteristic with total magnetic moment of 1.60μ _B under 7% strain. Our results imply that the strain-manipulated ReS₂ monolayer with V_S and V_2S can be a possible candidate for new spintronic applications.