Magnetism in Sc-doped ZnO with zinc vacancies: A hybrid density functional and GGA + U approaches

We investigate the zinc vacancy effects on the electronic structures and magnetic properties of Sc-doped ZnO, by performing first-principles calculations within both GGA + U and Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof hybrid functional methods. We find that Sc impurities stabilize considerably Zn vacancies. The electronic and magnetic analysis shows a half metallic ferromagnetic character with a total magnetic moment of 2.01 μB. The magnetism mainly stems from the O 2p states around the Zn vacancies. Calculations with the hybrid density functional agree with the GGA + U results but give an accurate description of the electronic structure for pure ZnO and Sc-doped ZnO with Zn vacancies.