Role of nitrogen split interstitial defects in the magnetic properties of Cu-doped GaN

Y. Liu, Z. Gai, M. Weinert, L. Li

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Abstract

Cu-doped GaN thin films are grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. With nitrogen plasma only, films phase segregate into GaN and Cu-rich alloys. In contrast, when nitrogen-hydrogen plasma is used, the films are single-phased Ga 1-xCu xN, with x as high as 0.04. Contrary to earlier studies, however, these films are not ferromagnetic, but rather paramagnetic in nature. First-principles calculations indicate that although each substitutional Cu Ga exhibits a moment of 1 μ B/Cu, it can be suppressed by neighboring intrinsic defects such as N split interstitials.

Original languageEnglish
Article number075207
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume85
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 13 2012

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