1. IBM Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
2. Present address: Université de Paris-Sud XI/Orsay, Bât. 462, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Correspondence to: L. Krusin-Elbaum Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to L.K.-E. (Email: krusin@us.ibm.com).

Abstract

Nanotubes and nanowires with both elemental^{1, 2} (carbon or silicon) and multi-element^{3, 4, 5} compositions (such as compound semiconductors or oxides), and exhibiting electronic properties ranging from metallic to semiconducting, are being extensively investigated for use in device structures designed to control electron charge^{6, 7, 8}. However, another important degree of freedom—electron spin, the control of which underlies the operation of 'spintronic' devices⁹—has been much less explored. This is probably due to the relative paucity of nanometre-scale ferromagnetic building blocks¹⁰ (in which electron spins are naturally aligned) from which spin-polarized electrons can be injected. Here we describe nanotubes of vanadium oxide (VO_x), formed by controllable self-assembly¹¹, that are ferromagnetic at room temperature. The as-formed nanotubes are transformed from spin-frustrated semiconductors to ferromagnets by doping with either electrons or holes, potentially offering a route to spin control¹² in nanotube-based heterostructures¹³.

1. IBM Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
2. Present address: Université de Paris-Sud XI/Orsay, Bât. 462, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Correspondence to: L. Krusin-Elbaum Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to L.K.-E. (Email: krusin@us.ibm.com).

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