Optical, structural properties and experimental procedures of GaGdN grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

Rare earth (RE) elements are promising alternatives to transition metals (TMs) for use in developing a dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) for spintronics applications. Instead of relying on the d-shell electrons of the TMs as the magnetic element, the 4f electrons from the RE elements are used. The 4f RE elements can have larger magnetic moments as compared to 3d TMs, because the 4f orbits are localized and the direct coupling between the 4f ions is weak. There have been several reports of using RE elements for optoelectronic applications, as their various internal f-shell electronic transitions vary in energy from infrared to visible.