Contrasting para- and ferro-magnetic responses of (Gd,Dy)N alloys

The remarkable series of intrinsic ferromagnetic semiconductors within the rare-earth nitrides presents both fundamental challenges and technological opportunities with even more offered by alloys among them. Here, we report an initial exploration of alloys with an investigation of magnetic and electron transport measurements in alloys of composition GdxDy1−xN. The full compositional range is indeed ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures between ≈60 and ≈20 K, respectively, of unalloyed GdN and DyN, displaying semiconductor conductivities. The study opens the door for continuously controllable ferromagnetism in this family of intrinsic ferromagnetic semiconductors.