The making of ferromagnetic Fe doped ZnO nanoclusters

• In this letter, the authors present a study of the energetics and magnetic interactions in Fe doped ZnO clusters by ab initio density functional calculations. The results indicate that defects under suitable conditions can induce ferromagnetic interactions between the dopant Fe atoms whereas antiferromagnetic coupling dominates in a neutral defect-free cluster. The calculations also reveal an unusual ionic state of the dopant Fe atom residing at the surface of the cluster, a feature that is important to render the cluster ferromagnetic.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

ab initio calculations

antiferromagnetic materials

crystal defects

density functional theory

ferromagnetic materials

II-VI semiconductors

iron

magnetic semiconductors

nanostructured materials

semiconductor doping

zinc compounds

Physics

Fysik

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)