IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
First-principle study on electronic structure property of GaN/AlN
To cite this article: N Benayad et al 2012 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 28 012006
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Zinc-blende AlN and GaN under pressure:
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First-principle study on electronic structure property of GaN/AlN
N. Benayad
a1, M. Dine El Hanani
a, M. Djermouni
ba
Laboratoire des Matériaux Magnétiques, Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences, Université Djilali Liabes de Sidi Bel Abbés, Sidi Bel Abbés 22000, Algérie
b
Laboratoire de Modélisation et Simulation en Sciences des Matériaux, Faculté des Sciences, Université Djilali Liabes de Sidi Bel Abbés, Sidi Bel Abbés 22000, Algérie E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. Ferromagnetism of GaN and AlN based magnetic semiconductors was investigated
by ab initio calculations based on the local density approximation. In a system of Mn atom doped GaN and AlN, the ferromagnetic ordering of Mn magnetic moments was induced by hole doping. It was also found that
3d transition metal atoms of Fe and Co showed theferromagnetic ordering of their magnetic moments in GaN and AlN without any additional carrier doping treatments. Appearance of the ferromagnetism in these systems suggests possibility for a fabrication of a transparent ferromagnetic which will have great impact on industrial applications in magneto optical devices.
1. Introduction
III-V nitrides are important in electronics, microelectronics and materials science. In particular GaN/AlN semiconductors have recently attracted extensive attention because of their importance to both science and technology for optoelectronic applications in the short-wave length range as well as for high-temperature, high-power and high-frequency electronic devices. This group III-V nitrides is considered as non-magnetic semiconductors. We can obtain by alloying them a new class: DMS (semiconductor magnetic diluted), with a sizable amount (a few percents or more) of magnetic elements, such as manganese Mn. The studies of DMS based on III-V and their heterosructures have offered a wide variety of materials and structures, making it possible to explore further the effect of the exchange interaction in semiconductors. Most remarkably Mn doping in GaN and AlN leads to ferromagnetism [1]. This behavior is generally called carrier-induced ferromagnetism because hole carriers introduced into the system mediate the ferromagnetic coupling between the Mn ions [2], although its microscopic mechanism has been controversial. The key to understanding the mechanism of the carrier-induced ferromagnetism is to elucidate the nature of the doped hole carriers as well as the exchange interaction between the holes in the host valence band and the localized d orbitals of magnetic ions, so-called p-d exchange interaction. Recently, there have been a few first principles electronic structure calculations of Mn doped GaN systems. Fong and al [3] performed electronic structure calculations of Fe and Mn doped GaN using the Tight-binding linearized muffin tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method. Kronik and al [4] considered (Mn, Ga) N in wurtzite structure and performed
1 To whom any correspondence should be addressed.
MATERIAUX 2010 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 28 (2012) 012006 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/28/1/012006
electronic calculations using a plane-wave pseudo-potential method. Sanyal and al [5] studied the exchange interaction in (Mn, Ga) N and compared it with that in (Mn, Ga) As using the ab initio plane wave method within the local spin density approximation LSDA and (LSDA+U) calculations. The aim of this paper is to show that by using the full potential linear muffin tin orbital (FP-LMTO) within the LDA, the results of structural and electronic properties calculations are accurate compared to others works. The crystal is divided into two regions: non- overlapping muffin tin spheres surrounding every atom and the interstitial region between the spheres. Within the spheres, the potential is expanded in spherical harmonics, while the interstitial regions it is expanded in terms Fourier series. Provides the best accuracy at the price of increasing the computational time.
2. Results and discussion 2.1. Structural optimization
The calculations were first carried out assuming ideal zinc blend (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) structures.
For wurtzite structures, the axis ratio c/a and the internal parameter u for both GaN and AlN are c/a = 1.636, 1.616, u = 0.375, 0.376 respectively were used. The calculated total energies and pressures for several lattice constants were fitted with the empirical Birch equation of state to obtain equiliberium lattice constants. For zincblende and wurtzite structures, the forces acting on atoms and the elements of the stress tensor have converged within 10
-4Ry/(a.u)
3. Table I summarizes the results of our calculations for lattice parameters.
Table I. Calculated lattice constants a
0and c
0, bulk modulus, pressure derivative (B
'0) and internal parameter u compared to experiment and other works of GaN and AlN zinc blend (B
3) and wurtzite (B
4) phases.
Materials References a
0(A
0) c
0(A
0) B
0(GPa) B
'0c/a u (A
0) GaN (B
3)
Present Experiment Other works
4.47 4.50
a4.46
b- - -
194.58 185
a202
b3.97 - 4.32
b- - -
- - - GaN (B
4)
Present Experiment Other works
3.158 3.192
c3.18
d5.166 5.183
c5.151
d194.2 188
c-
4.1 3.2
c-
1.636 1.624
c1.62
d0.375 0.375
c-
AlN (B
3)
Present Experiment Other works
4.34 4.37
a4.349
b- - -
201 215
a211
b4.002 - 3.90
b- - -
- - -
AlN (B
4)
Present Experiment Other works
3.07 3.11
c3.11
d4.961 4.979
c4.979
d205 185
c-
3.996 5.7
c-
1.616 1.601
c1.601
d0.376 0.385
c0.382
da
Ref [6]
bRef [7]
cRef [8, 9, 10,11]
dRef [12]
For zinc blend (B
3) and wurtzite (B
4), the lattice constants from LDA calculations are slightly smaller than the experimental values. The equilibrium lattice constants to obtain from LDA calculations are in good agreement with those calculated by first principles method within different approximations. Our calculated bulks are slightly larger than experimental and other theoretical works except for AlN zinc blend (B
3). This is essentially due to the effect of the LDA on the calculations. We note an anomaly in comparing our results of pressure derivative of the bulk modulus of AlN wurtzite (B
4).
2.2. The relative stability and phase transition
In order to calculate the ground state properties of GaN and AlN, the total energies are calculated in GaN/AlN (NaCl B
1, Zinc blend B
3, Wurtzite B
4) structures for different volumes around the
MATERIAUX 2010 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 28 (2012) 012006 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/28/1/012006
equilibrium cell volume V
0. Figure 1 show the fitted E
totversus V curves of the three phases of GaN and AlN considered, calculated by using LDA calculation. The pressure is given by:
P =
1
' 0
' 0 0 0
B
V V B B
From this equation we deduce the transition volume:
V (P) =V
00
/ '
1
0 '
1
0B
B P B
Where B
0is the bulk modulus at the equilibrium V
0and B
'0is its pressure derivative.
Figure 1. Calculated total energies as a function of volume for zinc blend, wurtzite and rocksalt GaN and AlN with LDA calculation .
Table II: transition pressures P
tfor GaN and AlN.
a
Ref [14]
bRef [15]
cRef [16]
dRef [17]
It’s clear from the E(V) curve, that the wurtzite (B
4) structure is the most stable at room condition, which is consistent with experimental results and other theoretical works. The structure phase stability is determined by calculating Gibbs free energy for both phases (G = E
tot+PV-TS) since the theoretical calculations are performed at 0 K, Gibbs free energy becomes equal to enthalpy (H= E
tot+PV) [13].
The transition pressure (P
t) of the zinc blend to rocksalt and wurtzite to rocksalt of GaN and AlN are determined from the constraint of equal static lattice enthalpy. The results for the pressure transition P
tobtained are listed in table II, compared with other avaible theoretical results and experimental data.
The present results agree with the theoretical values and experimental data. Our results are similarity P
tV
t(B
3) V
t(B
1) V
t(B
3)/V
0V
t(B
1)
/V
0 V%
GaN
Zinc blend - Rocksalt
GaN
Wurtzite - Rocksalt
Present Experiment Other Works Present Experiment Other Works
33.9 - 38.15
a47.20 47-50
b42.9
c132.46 - - 127.39 - -
110.34 - - 107.43 - -
0.87 - - 0.84 - -
0.72 - - 0.71 - -
14.6 - - 13.2 - - AlN
Zinc blend - Rocksalt AlN
Wurtzite - Rocksalt
Present Experiment Other work Present Experiment Other Works
6.48 - 7.1
b15.83 14-16.6
d9.1
c133.87 - - 128.311 - -
106.81 - - 103.689 - -
0.97 - - 0.75 - -
0.77 - - 0.93 - -
19.6 - - 17.9 - -
MATERIAUX 2010 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 28 (2012) 012006 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/28/1/012006
between the zinc blend and wurtzite and show that the gradient corrections to the LDA have very small effects on P
tof GaN/AlN.
2.3 Elastic constants
In the following, we study the GaN and AlN compounds in their metastable zinc blend phase because there are little experimental data and theorical works under strain and stress effect, behind this we will also study it in the wurtzite phase.
The elastic properties define the properties of material that undergoes stress, deforms and then recovers and returns to its original shape after stress ceases. These properties play an important part in providing valuable information about the binding characteristic between adjacent atomic planes, anisotropic character of binding and structural stability. Hence, to study the stability of these compounds in zinc blend (B
3) and wurtzite (B
4) structures, we have calculated the elastic constants at equilibrium lattice parameter. The elastic moduli require knowledge of the derivative of the energy as a function of the lattice strain. It is possible to choose this strain in such a way that the volume of the unit cell is preserved. In the case of cubic system, there are only three independent elastic constants namely C
11, C
12and C
44. Thus for the calculation of them, we have used the Mehl method [18, 19], which state the use of the volume conserving orthorhombic and monoclinic tensors in determining the shear constants C
11-C
12and C
44respectively. So set of three equations means to determinate all the constants, which means that three types of strain must be applied to the starting crystal.
The first type involves calculating the elastic modulus (C
11+2C
12), which are related to the bulk modulus B: B = 1/3 (C
11+ 2C
12).
The second type involves calculating the elastic modulus (C
11-C
12), which are related to the equilibrium volume: P/V
0= C
11-C
12.
The third type involves calculating C
44= 2P/V
0.
Table III: Elastic constants of zinc blend GaN and AlN.
C
11C
12C
44GaN Present 279 152 271
calcul
a285 159 155
calcul
b296 154 206
AlN Present 309 147 283
calcul
a313 160 192
calcul
b304 152 199
aRef [20]
bRef [21]
For zinc blend -GaN and zinc blend -AlN, there are no experimental data and there are several other calculations. Our calculations are all in good agreement with the other works.
In the case of wurtzite (B
4) phase, there are five independent elastic constants namely C
11, C
12, C
13and C
44. These elastic constants are related to the bulk modulus B
0and four shear constants (C
11+C
12, C
11-C
12, 1/2 C
33and 2C
44) [22]. Hence, a set of five equations is needed to determine all the constants.
The first equation involves calculating the bulk modulus B which related to the elastic constants by: 2/9(C
11+C
12+2 C
13+1/2 C
33)
The second and third ones calculating the shear constants (C
11+C
12) and C
33by applying the uniform in plane strain tensor.
0 0
0 0
0
0
And the inter- layer strain tensor
0 0
0 0 0
0 0
0
Respectively.
Application of these strains changes the total energy from its unstrained values as following:
E (V
0) = V
0(C
11+C
12)
2and E (V
0) = 1/2 V
0C
33
2. The fourth equation involves applying volume conserving monoclinic strain tensor
0 0 0
0 0
0 0
Which transform the energy to: E (V
0) = V
0(C
11-C
12)
2MATERIAUX 2010 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 28 (2012) 012006 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/28/1/012006
Finally, for the last type of deformation, we used the volume conserving triclinic strain tensor given by:
0 0
0 0 0
0 0
This change the total energy to E (V
0) = 2V
0C
44
2The four shear constants are determined by a polynomial fit of the calculated total energy as a function of the shear strains curves. The calculated values of elastic constants in wurtzite-B
4are listed in table IV. The positive values of the elastic constants, indicating that B
4phase is elastically stable.
Table IV: Elastic constants of wurtzite GaN and AlN.
C
11C
12C
13C
33C
44GaN Present 114 241 177 449 384 calcul
a365 135 114 381 109
AlN Present 150 128 383 40 144 calcul
a396 137 108 373 116
a