The vacancy defect-induced magnetism in wurtzite ZnO was explored using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method. It was found that the Zn vacancy defect induced a spin-polarized state in the nearest-neighbour oxygen atoms, whereas the oxygen vacancy defect had no influence upon the magnetism. It was found that the lattice distortion was a crucial factor in Zn vacancy-induced ferromagnetism because the ferromagnetic ground state could not be achieved if there was no lattice distortion due to the Zn vacancy defect. The magnetic moment of an oxygen atom in the nearest-neighbour position from the Zn vacancy site ranged from 0.10 to 0.19µB and the spin-polarized oxygen atoms had a metallic character in both spin states. These results were different to those found using other calculations. It was found that the ferromagnetic exchange interaction among oxygen atoms was mediated by the Zn 3d state.

Ferromagnetism Induced by Zn Vacancy Defect and Lattice Distortion in ZnO. Kim, D., Yang, J., Hong, J.: Journal of Applied Physics, 2009, 106[1], 013908