Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida–like Ferromagnetism in Nonmetal Doped Y 2 O 3

Abstract

AbstractA wide-gap semiconductor of Yttria (Y2O3) doped with nonmetal elements (B, C, and N) are investigated by using the first-principles method. We mainly discuss the exchange coupling between two dopants and find that the exchange coupling in current cases are sensitive to the B-B, C-C, and N-N distance. Unitary ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) states have been observed in the two-B-doped and two-N-doped Y2O3 structures, respectively. Surprisingly, as the C-C distance increases, a transformation between FM and AFM has been found, which shows an RKKY-like interaction due to the p-d hybridization between the C dopant and intrinsic Y atoms.Keywords: Y2O3ferromagneticRKKY-like interactionDFT calculations Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingWe thank the National Supercomputer Center in Shenzhen. The work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant No. 19ZR1419800).