Inhomogeneity in Co doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor

Here, we have studied the chemical and magnetic interactions in Co doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor by ab initio density functional calculations. The calculated chemical pair interaction parameters suggest a strong tendency of clustering between Co atoms. Both chemical and magnetic pair interaction parameters are short ranged with a large first neighbor interaction. Monte Carlo simulations show that the Curie temperature for a homogeneous sample is low, whereas allowing for an inhomogeneous growth results in very high Curie temperatures. It is argued that these inhomogeneities may be the reason for the observation of high Curie temperatures in Co doped ZnO. It is also demonstrated that the electronic structure is modified significantly in presence of Co clusters. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.