Rare-earth doped III-nitride semiconductors for semiconductor spintronics

InGaGdN layers and InGaGdN/GaN superlattice (SL) structures were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. InGaGdN layers exhibited photoluminescence emission at room temperature and its peak wavelength was red-shifted with the increase of In composition. Clear hysteresis and saturation were observed in the magnetization versus magnetic field curves at room temperature for the InGaGdN layers. Si co-doping into InGaGdN layers increased the electron carrier concentration and enhanced the magnetization. In the InGaGdN/GaN SL samples, enhanced magnetization was also observed. Si doping into wide bandgap GaN layers in these SL structures further increased the magnetization, where InGaGdN layers were not doped with Si. All these results can be understood with the carrier-mediated ferromagnetism.