Intrinsic magnetism induced by vacancy in GaN Original Research Article

We performed total energy electronic-structure calculations based on DFT that clarify the intrinsic magnetism of undoped GaN. The magnetism is due to Ga, instead of N, vacancies. The origin of magnetism arises from the unpaired 2p electrons of N surrounding Ga vacancy. At a vacancy concentration of 5.6%, the ferromagnetic state is 181 meV lower than the antiferromagnetic state. Our findings are helpful to gain a more novel understanding of structural and spin properties of Ga vacancy in wurtzite GaN and also provide a possible way to generate magnetic GaN by introducing Ga vacancies instead of doping with transition-metal atoms.