Conductivity of high-mobility epitaxial GdN
Phys. Rev. B 111, 245201 – Published 10 June, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nsbw-wz3s
Abstract
The ferromagnetic-semiconductor rare-earth nitrides have coupled magnetism/conductivity responses that promise facility to support superconducting spintronics, for which it is urgent to improve their electron mobility. We report exactly that advance, showing an order-of-magnitude enhanced mobility in GdN, the prototypical rare-earth nitride, enabling ballistic-transport barriers in magnetic Josephson junctions. To achieve the enhancement, the film was grown on the square net presented by the (001) surface of . The film's crystal structure was characterized by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ex situ x-ray diffraction and x-ray reflectivity to show the best crystallinity and smoothest surfaces we have accomplished to date. It shows a clear ferromagnetic transition at K with a saturation magnetization within uncertainty of / ion, a remanence of / ion, and a coercive field of mT. It is doped by % nitrogen vacancies that introduce electrons into the conduction band. The resistivity shows transport in a conduction band doped to degeneracy by electrons/formula unit with a residual resistance ratio of 2 and a Hall resistivity permitting easily separated ordinary and anomalous Hall components. The electron transport resides in the strongly spin-split conduction band that ensures purely majority-spin transport.