Electronic structure of cubic ErxGa1−xN using the LSDA+U approach

Electronic structure calculations were performed for substitutional erbium rare-earth impurity in cubic GaN using density-functional theory calculations within the LSDA+U approach (local spin-density approximation with Hubbard-U corrections). The LSDA+U method is applied to the rare-earth 4f states. The Er_xGa_1−xN is found to be a semiconductor, where the filled f-states are located in the valence bands and the empty ones above the conduction band edge. The filled and empty f-states are also shown to shift downwards and upwards in the valence and conduction bands, respectively, with increase in the U potentials.