Polaronic trapping in magnetic semiconductors

GaN doped with iron is an interesting candidate material for magnetic semiconductors, as p-d coupling between the localized Fe-d and extended N-p hole states is expected to facilitate long-range ferromagnetic alignment of the Fe spins [1]. This picture of extended states in GaN:Fe, however, falls apart due to a polaronic localization of the hole carriers nearby the Fe impurities. To elucidate the carrier localization in GaN:Fe and related iron doped III-V semiconductors, I present a systematic study using self-interaction corrected density-functional calculations [2]. These calculations predict three distinct scenarios. (i) Some systems do sustain extended host-like hole states, (ii) some exhibit polaronic trapping, (iii) and some exhibit carrier trapping at Fe-d orbitals. These behaviors are described in detail to give an insight as to how to distinguish them experimentally. I thank T. Fujita, C. Echeverria-Arrondo, and A. Ayuela for their collaboration.\\[4pt] [1] T. Dietl et al, Science, 287, 1019 (2000).\\[0pt] [2] S. Lany and A. Zunger, Phys. Rev. B, 80, 085202 (2009).