Theoretical study of structural stabilities and magnetic properties of doped transition metals in MnTe vs ZnTe and CdTe: Reduced clustering trend and enhanced magnetic coupling.

Clustering and weak magnetic coupling of doped transition metals (TMs) have hampered the potential spintronic applications of many magnetic semiconductors. Here, the influence of the host crystal magnetic background on the magnetic coupling and clustering of TM impurities is studied theoretically, with a comparison of a series of TMs (V, Cr, Fe, Co, and Ni) in MnTe, ZnTe, and CdTe hosts. We found that the antiferromagnetic (AFM) background of MnTe degrades the clustering tendency of the studied TM impurities (except Ni). Meanwhile, the AFM background of MnTe significantly enhances the magnetic coupling of doped Fe, Co, and Ni pairs in general, either ferromagnetically (for Fe, Ni) or antiferromagnetically (for Co). The enhanced ferromagnetic coupling and weakened clustering of Fe impurities in MnTe imply that an AFM background of host semiconductors may aid the development of high TC magnetic semiconductors with intrinsic magnetism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]