Ferromagnetism in Fe-substituted spinel semiconductor ZnGa2_2O4_4

Motivated by the recent experimental observation of long range ferromagnetic order at a relatively high temperature of 200K in the Fe-doped ZnGa$_2$O$_4$ semiconducting spinel, we propose a possible mechanism for the observed ferromagnetism in this system. We show, supported by band structure calculations, how a model similar to the double exchange model can be written down for this system and calculate the ground state phase diagram for the two cases where Fe is doped either at the tetrahedral position or at the octahedral position. We find that in both cases such a model can account for a stable ferromagnetic phase in a wide range of parameter space. We also argue that in the limit of high Fe$^{2+}$ concentration at the tetrahedral positions a description in terms of a two band model is essential. The two $e_g$ orbitals and the hopping between them play a crucial role in stabilizing the ferromagnetic phase in this limit. The case when Fe is doped simultaneously at both the tetrahedral and the octahedral position is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, added text, J. Phys. Cond. Mat. (to appear

Strong correlation and ferromagnetism in (Ga,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)N

The band energies of the ferromagnetic diluted magnetic semiconductors (Ga,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)N are calculated using a self-interaction-free approach which describes covalent and strongly correlated electrons without adjustable parameters. Both materials are half-metallic, although the contribution of Mn-derived d states to the bands around the Fermi energy is very different in the two cases. In (Ga,Mn)As the bands are strongly p-d hybridized, with a dominance of As p states. In contrast in (Ga,Mn)N the Fermi energy lies within three flat bands of mainly d character that are occupied by two electrons. Thus the Mn ion in (Ga,Mn)N behaves as a deep trap acceptor, with the hole at 1.39 eV above the GaN valence band top, and is in excellent agreement with the experimental data