Bound magnetic polarons and p-d exchange interaction in ferromagnetic insulating Cu-doped ZnO

Yufeng Tian, Yongfeng Li, Mi He, Irwan Ade Putra, Haiyang Peng, Bin Yao, Siew Ann Cheong, Tom Wu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

122 Scopus citations

Abstract

A systematic study on the magnetic and electrical transport properties of single-phase wurtzite Zn1-x Cux O is performed. Efros variable range hopping dominates the conduction, which is accompanied by a ferromagnetic order up to 700 K for x>1%. Both the first-principles calculations and Cu/Al co-doping experiments suggest that the spontaneous spin polarization originates from the p- d exchange interaction between O 2p and Cu3d orbitals. Furthermore, our results are consistent with the scenario that the intrinsic ferromagnetism is established through indirect interassctions between bound magnetic polarons mediated by magnetic impurities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number162503
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume98
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 18 2011
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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