2,280 research outputs found
Magnitude and crystalline anisotropy of hole magnetization in (Ga,Mn)As
Theory of hole magnetization Mc in zinc-blende diluted ferromagnetic
semiconductors is developed relaxing the spherical approximation of earlier
approaches. The theory is employed to determine Mc for (Ga,Mn)As over a wide
range of hole concentrations and a number of crystallographic orientations of
Mn magnetization. It is found that anisotropy of Mc is practically negligible
but the obtained magnitude of Mc is significantly greater than that determined
in the spherical approximation. Its sign and value compares favorably with the
results of available magnetization measurements and ferromagnetic resonance
studies.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Prospect for room temperature tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance effect: density of states anisotropies in CoPt systems
Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) effect, discovered recently in
(Ga,Mn)As ferromagnetic semiconductors, arises from spin-orbit coupling and
reflects the dependence of the tunneling density of states in a ferromagnetic
layer on orientation of the magnetic moment. Based on ab initio relativistic
calculations of the anisotropy in the density of states we predict sizable TAMR
effects in room-temperature metallic ferromagnets. This opens prospect for new
spintronic devices with a simpler geometry as these do not require
antiferromagnetically coupled contacts on either side of the tunnel junction.
We focus on several model systems ranging from simple hcp-Co to more complex
ferromagnetic structures with enhanced spin-orbit coupling, namely bulk and
thin film L1-CoPt ordered alloys and a monatomic-Co chain at a Pt surface
step edge. Reliability of the predicted density of states anisotropies is
confirmed by comparing quantitatively our ab initio results for the
magnetocrystalline anisotropies in these systems with experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Optical properties of metallic (III,Mn)V ferromagnetic semiconductors in the infrared to visible range
We report on a study of the ac conductivity and magneto-optical properties of
metallic ferromagnetic (III,Mn)V semiconductors in the infrared to visible
spectrum. Our analysis is based on the successful kinetic exchange model for
(III,Mn)V ferromagnetic semiconductors. We perform the calculations within the
Kubo formalism and treat the disorder effects pertubatively within the Born
approximation, valid for the metallic regime. We consider an eight-band
Kohn-Luttinger model (six valence bands plus two conduction bands) as well as a
ten-band model with additional dispersionless bands simulating
phenomenologically the upper-mid-gap states induced by antisite and
interstitial impurities. These models qualitatively account for
optical-absorption experiments and predict new features in the mid-infrared
Kerr angle and magnetic-circular-dichroism properties as a function of Mn
concentration and free carrier density.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, some typos correcte
Bound Magnetic Polaron Interactions in Insulating Doped Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors
The magnetic behavior of insulating doped diluted magnetic semiconductors
(DMS) is characterized by the interaction of large collective spins known as
bound magnetic polarons. Experimental measurements of the susceptibility of
these materials have suggested that the polaron-polaron interaction is
ferromagnetic, in contrast to the antiferromagnetic carrier-carrier
interactions that are characteristic of nonmagnetic semiconductors. To explain
this behavior, a model has been developed in which polarons interact via both
the standard direct carrier-carrier exchange interaction (due to virtual
carrier hopping) and an indirect carrier-ion-carrier exchange interaction (due
to the interactions of polarons with magnetic ions in an interstitial region).
Using a variational procedure, the optimal values of the model parameters were
determined as a function of temperature. At temperatures of interest, the
parameters describing polaron-polaron interactions were found to be nearly
temperature-independent. For reasonable values of these constant parameters, we
find that indirect ferromagnetic interactions can dominate the direct
antiferromagnetic interactions and cause the polarons to align. This result
supports the experimental evidence for ferromagnetism in insulating doped DMS.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Noncollinear Ferromagnetism in (III,Mn)V Semiconductors
We investigate the stability of the collinear ferromagnetic state in kinetic
exchange models for (III,Mn)V semiconductors with randomly distributed Mn ions
>. Our results suggest that {\em noncollinear ferromagnetism} is commom to
these semiconductor systems. The instability of the collinear state is due to
long-ranged fluctuations invloving a large fraction of the localized magnetic
moments. We address conditions that favor the occurrence of noncollinear
groundstates and discuss unusual behavior that we predict for the temperature
and field dependence of its saturation magnetization.Comment: 5 pages, one figure included, presentation of technical aspects
simplified, version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Hole concentration in a diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor
We consider a mean-field approach to the hole-mediated ferromagnetism in
III-V Mn-based semiconductor compounds to discuss the dependence of the hole
density on that of Mn sites in Ga_{1-x}Mn_xAs. The hole concentration, p, as a
function of the fraction of Mn sites, x, is parametrized in terms of the
product m*J_{pd}^2 (where m* is the hole effective mass and J_{pd} is the
Kondo-like hole/local-moment coupling), and the critical temperature Tc. By
using experimental data for these quantities, we have established the
dependence of the hole concentration with x, which can be associated with the
occurrence of a reentrant metal-insulator transition taking place in the hole
gas. We also calculate the dependence of the Mn magnetization with x, for
different temperatures (T), and found that as T increases, the width of the
composition-dependent magnetization decreases drammatically, and that the
magnetization maxima also decreases, indicating the need for quality-control of
Mn-doping composition in diluted magnetic semiconductor devices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX 3; Fig. 1 changed, new references adde
Thickness dependence of magnetic properties of (Ga,Mn)As
We report on a monotonic reduction of Curie temperature in dilute
ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As upon a well controlled
chemical-etching/oxidizing thinning from 15 nm down to complete removal of the
ferro- magnetic response. The effect already starts at the very beginning of
the thinning process and is accompanied by the spin reorientation transition of
the in-plane uniaxial anisotropy. We postulate that a negative gradient along
the growth direction of self-compensating defects (Mn interstitial) and the
presence of surface donor traps gives quantitative account on these effects
within the p-d mean field Zener model with adequate mod- ifications to take a
nonuniform distribution of holes and Mn cations into account. The described
here effects are of practical importance for employing thin and ultrathin
layers of (Ga,Mn)As or relative compounds in concept spintronics devices, like
resonant tunneling devices in particular.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures and supplementary information 2 pages, 1 figur
Origin of bulk uniaxial anisotropy in zinc-blende dilute magnetic semiconductors
It is demonstrated that the nearest neighbor Mn pair on the GaAs (001)
surface has a lower energy for the [-110] direction comparing to the [110]
case. According to the group theory and the Luttinger's method of invariants,
this specific Mn distribution results in bulk uniaxial in-plane and
out-of-plane anisotropies. The sign and magnitude of the corresponding
anisotropy energies determined by a perturbation method and ab initio
computations are consistent with experimental results.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Cubic anisotropy in high homogeneity thin (Ga,Mn)As layers
Historically, comprehensive studies of dilute ferromagnetic semiconductors,
e.g., -type (Cd,Mn)Te and (Ga,Mn)As, paved the way for a quantitative
theoretical description of effects associated with spin-orbit interactions in
solids, such as crystalline magnetic anisotropy. In particular, the theory was
successful in explaining {\em uniaxial} magnetic anisotropies associated with
biaxial strain and non-random formation of magnetic dimers in epitaxial
(Ga,Mn)As layers. However, the situation appears much less settled in the case
of the {\em cubic} term: the theory predicts switchings of the easy axis
between in-plane and directions as a
function of the hole concentration, whereas only the
orientation has been found experimentally. Here, we report on the observation
of such switchings by magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance studies on a
series of high-crystalline quality (Ga,Mn)As films. We describe our findings by
the mean-field - Zener model augmented with three new ingredients. The
first one is a scattering broadening of the hole density of states, which
reduces significantly the amplitude of the alternating carrier-induced
contribution. This opens the way for the two other ingredients, namely the
so-far disregarded single-ion magnetic anisotropy and disorder-driven
non-uniformities of the carrier density, both favoring the
direction of the apparent easy axis. However, according to our results, when
the disorder gets reduced a switching to the orientation
is possible in a certain temperature and hole concentration range.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
Anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic semiconductors
We present a theory of the anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic (Mn,III)V
semiconductors. Our theory relates the anomalous Hall conductance of a
homogeneous ferromagnet to the Berry phase acquired by a quasiparticle
wavefunction upon traversing closed paths on the spin-split Fermi surface of a
ferromagnetic state. It can be applied equally well to any itinerant electron
ferromagnet. The quantitative agreement between our theory and experimental
data in both (In,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)As systems suggests that this disorder
independent contribution to the anomalous Hall conductivity dominates in
diluted magnetic semiconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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