Local atomic structure around Mn ions in GaN:Mn thin films: Quantitative XANES analysis

GaN:Mn dilute magnetic semiconductors with zinc-blende type of lattice and room temperature ferromagnetism were investigated by the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) with a high accuracy approach of the multidimensional interpolation, which makes it possible to determine the nanoscale local atomic structure around Mn impurities. It is found that Mn atoms are substantially incorporated into the GaN lattice and Jahn-Teller distortion around Mn atom is observed. Our results show that symmetry changes around Mn atom influence on XANES spectrum significantly. Furthermore, the possible impact of local distortions on the magnetic properties is discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved