Spin Mechanisms in Gd-Doped GaN Implanted With Oxygen/Carbon at Room Temperature

Gadolinium-doped gallium nitride implanted with oxygen and carbon show carrier-mediated spin mechanisms at room temperature. As-grown Gd-doped GaN grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using a tris(cyclopentadienyl) gadolinium precursor shows Ordinary Hall Effect and no ferromagnetism at room temperature. Upon O or C implantation in Gd-doped GaN, Anomalous Hall Effect that is indicative of carrier-mediated spin and ferromagnetism is observed. A good crystal quality is maintained even after implantation. O and C favor interstitial sites and occupy deep-level acceptor-type states in Gd-doped GaN. Room-temperature spin and ferromagnetism that is induced by gadolinium in Gd-doped GaN is activated by O and C that occupy interstitial sites. Carrier-mediated mechanism for spin functionalities shows potential for the control and manipulation of spin as a quantum state in gallium nitride. This makes GaGdN:O/C a potential semiconductor material base of interest for room temperature spintronics and quantum information science applications. In this paper, doping of O and C in Gd-doped GaN using ion implantation, structural characterization using X-ray diffraction, and spin-related measurement using Advanced Hall Effect are investigated, and corresponding discussions are made.