Electronic structure of Fe, Co, Ni nanowires on Cu(1 1 1)

We investigate the electronic structures of Fe, Co and Ni nanowires on Cu(1 1 1) within the density functional theory. Among these nanowires, we find that the Fe nanowires exhibit the largest magnetic moment. For the Fe nanowires, we also calculate the electron band structure and the corresponding wave functions in real space. We find some spin polarized electron states localized along Fe nanowires in real space whose energy bands exhibit one-dimensional properties. On the basis of the numerical results, we discuss the origin of these interesting properties and also the possibility of observing spin-dependent current through these Fe nanowires.