Density Functional Theory Applied to Materials for Spintronics

Abstract: The properties of dilute magnetic semiconductors have been studied by combined ab initio, Monte Carlo, and experimental techniques. This class of materials could be very important for future spintronic devices, that offer enriched functionality by making use of both the spin and the charge of the electrons. The main part of the thesis concerns the transition metal doped ZnO. The role of defects on the magnetic interactions in Mn-doped ZnO was investigated. In the presence of acceptor defects such as zinc vacancies and oxygen substitution by nitrogen, the magnetic interactions are ferromagnetic. For dilute concentrations of Mn (~ 5%) the ordering temperature of the system is low, due to the short ranged character of the exchange interactions and disorder effects. The clustering tendency of the Co atoms in a ZnO matrix was also studied. The electronic structure, and in turn the magnetic interactions among the Co atoms, is strongly dependent on the exchange-correlation functional used. It is found that Co impurities tend to form nanoclusters and that the interactions among these atoms are antiferromagnetic within the local spin density approximation + Hubbard U approach. The electronic structure, as well as the chemical and magnetic interactions in Co and (Co,Al)-doped ZnO, was investigated by joined experimental and theoretical techniques. For a good agreement between the two, approximations beyond the local density approximation must be used. It is found that the Co atoms prefer to cluster within the semiconducting matrix, a tendency which is increased with Al co-doping. We envision that it is best to describe the system as superparamagnetic due to the formation of  Co nanoclusters within which the interactions are antiferromagnetic. The magnetic anisotropy and evolution of magnetic domains in Fe81Ni19/Co(001) superlattices were investigated both experimentally, as well as using model spin dynamics. A magnetic reorientation transition was found.