No Arabic abstract
Ferromagnetic semiconductors promise the extension of metal-based spintronics into a material system that combines widely tunable electronic, optical, and magnetic properties. Here, we take steps towards realizing that promise by achieving independent control of electronic doping in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. Samples are comprised of superlattices of 0.5 monolayer (ML) MnAs alternating with 20 ML GaAs and are grown by low temperature (230 C) atomic layer epitaxy (ALE). This allows for the reduction of excess As incorporation and hence the number of charge-compensating As-related defects. We grow a series of samples with either Be or Si doping in the GaAs spacers (p- and n-type dopants, respectively), and verify their structural quality by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and ex situ x-ray diffraction. Magnetization measurements reveal ferromagnetic behavior over the entire doping range, and show no sign of MnAs precipitates. Finally, magneto-transport shows the giant planar Hall effect and strong (20%) resistance fluctuations that may be related to domain wall motion.
A new scenario of the mechanism of intriguing ferromagnetic properties in Mn-doped magnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As is examined in detail. We find that magnetic features seen in zero-field cooled and field cooled magnetizations are not interpreted with a single domain model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 217204 (2005)], and the magnetic relaxation, which is similar to that seen in magnetic particles and granular systems, is becoming significant at temperatures above the lower-temperature peak in the temperature dependence of ac susceptibility, supporting the cluster/matrix model reported in our previous work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 147203 (2005)]. Cole-Cole analysis reveals that magnetic interactions between such (Ga,Mn)As clusters are significant at temperatures below the higher-temperature peak in the temperature dependent ac susceptibility. The magnetizations of these films disappear above the temperature showing the higher-temperature peak, which is generally referred to as the Curie temperature. However, we suggest that these combined results are evidence that the temperature is actually the blocking temperature of (Ga,Mn)As clusters with a relatively high hole concentration compared to the (Ga,Mn)As matrix.
Atomic Force Microscopy and Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements have revealed the presence of ripples aligned along the $[1bar{1}0]$ direction on the surface of (Ga,Mn)As layers grown on GaAs(001) substrates and buffer layers, with periodicity of about 50 nm in all samples that have been studied. These samples show the strong symmetry breaking uniaxial magnetic anisotropy normally observed in such materials. We observe a clear correlation between the amplitude of the surface ripples and the strength of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy component suggesting that these ripples might be the source of such anisotropy.
Electrical current manipulation of magnetization switching through spin-orbital coupling in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As Hall bar devices has been investigated. The efficiency of the current-controlled magnetization switching is found to be sensitive to the orientation of the current with respect to the crystalline axes. The dependence of the spin-orbit effective magnetic field on the direction and magnitude of the current is determined from the shifts in the magnetization switching angle. We find that the strain induced effective magnetic field is about three times as large as the Rashba induced magnetic field in our GaMnAs devices.
The effect of modulation doping by Be on the ferromagnetic properties of Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As is investigated in Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As/Ga(1-y)Al(y)As heterojunctions and quantum wells. Introducing Be acceptors into the Ga(1-y)Al(y)As barriers leads to an increase of the Curie temperature T_C of Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As, from 70 K in undoped structures to over 100 K with the modulation doping. This increase is qualitatively consistent with a multi-band mean field theory simulation of carrier-mediated ferromagnetism. An important feature is that the increase of T_C occurs only in those structures where the modulation doping is introduced after the deposition of the magnetic layer, but not when the Be-doped layer is grown first. This behavior is expected from the strong sensitivity of Mn interstitial formation to the value of the Fermi energy during growth.
A remarkable progress towards functional ferromagnetic semiconductor materials for spintronics has been achieved in p-type (Ga,Mn)As. Robust hole-mediated ferromagnetism has, however, been observed also in other III-V hosts such as antimonides, GaP or (Al,Ga)As which opens a wide area of possibilities for optimizing the host composition towards higher ferromagnetic Curie temperatures. Here we explore theoretically ferromagnetism and Mn incorporation in Ga(As,P) and (Al,Ga)As ternary hosts. While alloying (Ga,Mn)As with Al has only a small effect on the Curie temperature we predict a sizable enhancement of Curie temperatures in the smaller lattice constant Ga(As,P) hosts. Mn-doped Ga(As,P) is also favorable, as compared to (Al,Ga)As, with respect to the formation of carrier and moment compensating interstitial Mn impurities. In (Ga,Mn)(As,P) we find a marked decrease of the partial concentration of these detrimental impurities with increasing P content.