(Ga,Mn)N—Epitaxial growth, structural, and magnetic characterization—Tutorial

Abstract

The spin control possibility and its application in optoelectronic devices began an intensive research into its utilization, in particular, in the wide-gap semiconductors such as GaN doped with transition metal ions. Due to a strong p–d hybridization in Ga1−xMnxN, the Curie temperature above 300 K was already expected for x = 5%, providing that the free hole concentration necessary for the hole-mediated ferromagnetism exceeds 1020 cm−3. In this context, the development of non-equilibrium techniques enabled the engineering high-quality epitaxial layers of (Ga,Mn)N exhibiting uniform ferromagnetism at low-end cryogenic temperatures. The Tutorial is focused on the molecular beam epitaxy growth method of the Mn-enriched GaN magnetic semiconductors, summarizes the (Ga,Mn)N structural and electronic studies, and explains fundamental ferromagnetic properties, including the determination of the Mn concentration and the Curie temperature based on magnetic measurements. Most studies reveal the homogenous substitution of Mn3+ ions in the GaN matrix. Nevertheless, achieving room-temperature ferromagnetism still remains a challenge. Therefore, in the Tutorial, future research is suggested that can help obtain the homogenous ferromagnetism in (Ga,Mn)N at much elevated temperatures.