Dilute Magnetic III-N Semiconductors Based on Rare Earth Doping

Abstract

This paper focuses on the magnetic properties of wide bandgap III-N semiconductors doped with rare earth elements. Such materials form a novel class of dilute magnetic semiconductors that have an important potential impact on future information processing devices. In particular, rare earth doped III-N thin films may lead to integration of electronic, optical, and magnetic functionality for computation, sensing, and communication applications. The main aspects of this paper concern the efficient incorporation of rare earth ions in III-N thin films and the demonstration of magnetic effects at room temperature. While early studies were based on ion implantation and solid-state diffusion, major advances have been achieved through molecular beam epitaxy and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Measurements of room temperature magnetic effects from III-N films doped with rare earth elements, including erbium, gadolinium, europium, neodymium, and thulium, are presented. The dependence of measured magnetic properties on the synthesis method, co-doping, and material defects are addressed.