First-principles study of the magnetic properties of nitrogen-doped alkaline earth metal oxides

We present a first-principles study of the magnetic properties of N-doped MgO, CaO and SrO, which have been proposed to constitute a new class of dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) with no magnetic elements. In this study, it was found that under a homogeneously distributed condition, Curie temperatures could reach room temperature at sufficient N concentrations in the range of 20-30 at.%; however, an inhomogeneous N distribution in these DMSs is the favored configuration, which indicates that spinodal decomposition leads to a room-temperature blocking temperature at smaller N concentrations than those estimated for room-temperature ferromagnetism in the homogeneous distribution condition. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.