Tailoring ferromagnetism in chromium-doped zinc oxide

Abstract

The simultaneous manipulation of both charge and spin has made diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) a potential material for the fabrication of spintronic devices. We report DMSs based on ZnO doped with Cr in wurtzite (WZ) and zinc-blend (ZB) geometries. The injection of Cr impurities at a concentration of 6.25% has successfully tuned ferromagnetism in ZnO. To recognize the nature of magnetic interactions, two spatial configurations are investigated, where the impurity atoms are placed at minimum and maximum separation distances. The material favors the short-range magnetic coupling and has a tendency towards Cr clustering. The injection of a Cr impurity into ZnO strongly influences the electronic properties in terms of band structure, dependent on the impurity spatial distribution. It is half metallic for both structural geometries when impurity atoms have minimum separation and is metallic when they are placed far apart. Moreover, replacing Zn with Cr does not show a significant effect on the structural geometries. Our results endorse that Cr:ZnO can be efficiently used for spin-polarized transport and other spin-dependent applications in both hexagonal and cubic phases.