Ferromagnetism and infrared electrodynamics of Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$As}

We report on the magnetic and the electronic properties of the prototype dilute magnetic semiconductor Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$As using infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Trends in the ferromagnetic transition temperature $T_C$ with respect to the IR spectral weight are examined using a sum-rule analysis of IR conductivity spectra. We find non-monotonic behavior of trends in $T_C$ with the spectral weight to effective Mn ratio, which suggest a strong double-exchange component to the FM mechanism, and highlights the important role of impurity states and localization at the Fermi level. Spectroscopic features of the IR conductivity are tracked as they evolve with temperature, doping, annealing, As-antisite compensation, and are found only to be consistent with an Mn-induced IB scenario. Furthermore, our detailed exploration of these spectral features demonstrates that seemingly conflicting trends reported in the literature regarding a broad mid-IR resonance with respect to carrier density in Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$As are in fact not contradictory. Our study thus provides a consistent experimental picture of the magnetic and electronic properties of Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$As.

An infrared probe of the insulator-to-metal transition in GaMnAs and GaBeAs

We report infrared studies of the insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) in GaAs doped with either magnetic (Mn) or non-magnetic acceptors (Be). We observe a resonance with a natural assignment to impurity states in the insulating regime of Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$As, which persists across the IMT to the highest doping (16%). Beyond the IMT boundary, behavior combining insulating and metallic trends also persists to the highest Mn doping. Be doped samples however, display conventional metallicity just above the critical IMT concentration, with features indicative of transport within the host valence band.

Onset of ferromagnetism in low-doped GaMnAs

We develop a quantitatively predictive theory for impurity-band ferromagnetism in the low-doping regime of GaMnAs and compare with experimental measurements of a series of samples whose compositions span the transition from paramagnetic insulating to ferromagnetic conducting behavior. The theoretical Curie temperatures depend sensitively on the local fluctuations in the Mn-hole binding energy, which originates from disorder in the Mn distribution as well as the presence of As antisite defects. The experimentally-determined hopping energy at the Curie temperature is roughly constant over a series of samples whose conductivities vary more than 10^4 and whose hole concentrations vary more than 10^2. Thus in this regime the hopping energy is an excellent predictor of the Curie temperature for a sample, in agreement with the theory.