Magnetic properties of gadolinium and carbon co-doped gallium nitride

Abstract Investigations have been carried out to study the ferromagnetic properties of Gadolinium (Gd) Carbon (C) co-doped wurtzite Gallium Nitride (GaN) using full-potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the density functional theory. The system shows half-metallic nature when single Gd is substituted in Ga 36 N 36 supercell. The presence of carbon in GaN supercell is found to generate weak magnetic moment ( M s ) in the neighbouring atoms. When Carbon is codoped in the Gd-GaN, it increased the total magnetic moment of the system ( M tot ). The cause of ferromagnetism in the Gd and C co-doped GaN has been explained by Zener’s p-d exchange mechanism. The role of defects in the magnetic property of this system is also investigated. The results indicate the gallium vacancy influences the magnetic moment of the Gd and C codoped GaN more than the nitrogen vacancy. The presence of holes is effective than electrons in achieving the ferromagnetism in the considered system.