Tailoring Electronic and Magnetic Behaviour of ZnS via (Sm, Co) Co-Doping for Spintronics Applications

Abstract

Exploring semiconducting materials for applications in the spintronic devices we investigate structural, electronic and magnetic  properties of (Sm, Co) Co-doped ZnS diluted magnetic semiconductor (Zn30Sm1Co1S32) by first principle calculations using GGA+U approximation. The total energy calculations depict the ferromagnetic state as the stable state in the Co-doped system with larger Sm-Co separation while for smaller Sm-Co separation the system shows antiferromagnetic character. The total density of states (DOS) calculations demonstrates semiconducting and metallic character in the spin up and spin down states respectively which discloses p-d hybridization between Co-d and S-p ion revealing half metallic behaviour with 100% spin polarization. These findings establish Zn30Sm1Co1S32 as promising material for spintronic applications, combining semiconductor functionality with magnetic ordering and spin polarization essential for next-generation electronic devices.