Ga vacancy induced ferromagnetism enhancement and electronic structures of RE-doped GaN

Because of their possible applications in spintronic and optoelectronic devices, GaN dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) doped by rare-earth (RE) elements have attracted much attention since the high Curie temperature was obtained in RE-doped GaN DMSs and a colossal magnetic moment was observed in the Gd-doped GaN thin film. We have systemically studied the GaN DMSs doped by RE elements (La, Ce–Yb) using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method within the framework of density functional theory and adding the considerations of the electronic correlation and the spin-orbital coupling effects. We have studied the electronic structures of DMSs, especially for the contribution from f electrons. The origin of magnetism, magnetic interaction and the possible mechanism of the colossal magnetic moment were explored. We found that, for materials containing f electrons, electronic correlation was usually strong and the spin–orbital coupling was sometimes crucial in determining the magnetic ground state. It was found that GaN doped by La was non-magnetic. GaN doped by Ce, Nd, Pm, Eu, Gd, Tb and Tm are stabilized at antiferromagnetic phase, while GaN doped by other RE elements show strong ferromagnetism which is suitable materials for spintronic devices. Moreover, we have identified that the observed large enhancement of magnetic moment in GaN is mainly caused by Ga vacancies (3.0μB per Ga vacancy), instead of the spin polarization by magnetic ions or originating from N vacancies. Various defects, such as substitutional Mg for Ga, O for N under the RE doping were found to bring a reduction of ferromagnetism. In addition, intermediate bands were observed in some systems of GaN:RE and GaN with intrinsic defects, which possibly opens the potential application of RE-doped semiconductors in the third generation high efficiency photovoltaic devices.     

Growth and properties of Nd:Lu3Ga5O12 laser crystal by floating-zone method

Neodymium (Nd) doped lutetium gallium garnet (Nd:Lu₃Ga₅O₁₂, Nd:LuGG) single crystal was successfully grown by the optical floating-zone method for the first time to our knowledge. Its absorption and luminescence spectra at room temperature were measured. By using the J–O theory, the spectral parameters of Nd:LuGG were calculated, which indicated that Nd:LuGG should possess comparable and even better laser properties than Nd:YAG. The maximum output power of 855 mW at 1062 nm was achieved with slope efficiency of 23.4% under a pump power of 5.2 W, and optical conversion efficiency of 16.4%. All the results show that Nd:LuGG is a potential laser material.     

分子筛稳定的Lewis酸稀土中心在醛自缩合反应中的应用

羟醛缩合是重要的C–C键偶联反应,可以增长碳链,降低O/C比,用于生产很多大宗化学品,在生物质转化和生物油升级中广受关注.本文以丙醛分子自缩合反应作为模型反应,对比研究了稀土分子筛和稀土氧化物在醛自缩合反应中的催化性能,发现稀土分子筛的活性远高于稀土氧化物,其中Y/Beta活性最佳,并且具有良好的循环性能.随后采用程序...