The Fermi level dependence of the optical and magnetic properties of Ga1-xMnxN grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition

The suppression of the ferromagnetic behaviour of metal-organic chemical vapour deposition grown Ga1-xMnxN epilayers by silicon co-doping, and the influence of the Fermi level position on and its correlation with the magnetic and optical properties of Ga1-xMnxN are reported. Variation in the position of the Fermi level in the GaN bandgap is achieved by using different Mn concentrations and processing conditions as well as by co-doping with silicon to control the background donor concentration. The effect on Mn incorporation on the formation of defect states and impurity induced energy states within the bandgap of GaN was monitored by means of photoluminescence absorption and emission spectroscopy. A broad absorption detected around 1.5 eV is attributed to the presence of a subband introduced by Mn induced energy states due to temperature independent transition energies and linewidths. The intensity and the linewidth of the absorption band correlate with the Mn concentration. Similarly, the magnitude of the magnetization decreases as the Fermi level approaches the conduction band, as the Fermi energy is increased above the Mn (0/-) acceptor state. Silicon concentrations>1019 cm-3 caused the complete loss of ferromagnetic behaviour in the epilayer. The absorption band at 1.5 eV is also not observed upon silicon co-doping. The observed spectroscopic data favour a double-exchange-like mechanism rather than an itinerant free carrier mechanism for causing the ferromagnetism. This behaviour significantly differs from the properties reported for widely studied (Ga, In)MnAs