Many-body electronic structure calculations of Eu-doped ZnO

The formation energies and electronic structure of europium-doped zinc oxide has been determined using DFT and many-body GW methods. In the absence of intrisic defects, we find that the europium-f states are located in the ZnO band gap with europium possessing a formal charge of 2+. On the other hand, the presence of intrinsic defects in ZnO allows intraband f - f transitions otherwise forbidden in atomic europium. This result corroborates with recently observed photoluminescence in the visible red region S. Geburt et al. [Nano Lett. 14, 4523 (2014)].