First Principles Calculations of Cu Doped ZnO: a Potential Spintronic Material

Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS), in which transition metal (TM) ions primarily substitute cations of the host material form a class of spintronic materials. They exhibit ferromagnetism(FM) and half metallicity. Knowledge of magnetic interactions is crucial for obtaining room temperature ferromagnetism in a DMS. II-VI and III-V semiconductors are proving to be advantageous owing to their wide band gap, electric and piezoelectric properties and find a wide range of applications in optoelectronics, power electronics and spintronics [1]–[5].