Ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)N epilayers versus antiferromagnetic GaMn₃N clusters

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Mn-doped wurtzite GaN epilayers have been grown by nitrogen plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Correlated SIMS, structural and magnetic measurements show that the incorporation of Mn strongly depends on the conditions of the growth. Hysteresis loops which persist at high temperature do not appear to be correlated to the presence of Mn. Samples with up to 2% Mn are purely substitutional Ga₁₋ₓMnₓN epilayers, and exhibit paramagnetic properties. At higher Mn contents, precipitates are formed which are identified as GaMn₃N clusters by x-ray diffraction and absorption: this induces a decrease of the paramagnetic magnetisation. Samples co-doped with enough Mg exhibit a new feature: a ferromagnetic component is observed up to Tc 175 K, which cannot be related to superparamagnetism of unresolved magnetic precipitates.