Atom-by-Atom Substitution of Mn in GaAs and Visualization of their Hole-Mediated Interactions

The discovery of ferromagnetism in Mn doped GaAs [1] has ignited interest in the development of semiconductor technologies based on electron spin and has led to several proof-of-concept spintronic devices [2-4]. A major hurdle for realistic applications of (Ga,Mn)As, or other dilute magnetic semiconductors, remains their below room-temperature ferromagnetic transition temperature. Enhancing ferromagnetism in semiconductors requires understanding the mechanisms for interaction between magnetic dopants, such as Mn, and identifying the circumstances in which ferromagnetic interactions are maximized [5]. Here we report the use of a novel atom-by-atom substitution technique with the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to perform the first controlled atomic scale study of the interactions between isolated Mn acceptors mediated by the electronic states of GaAs. High-resolution STM measurements are used to visualize the GaAs electronic states that participate in the Mn-Mn interaction and to quantify the interaction strengths as a function of relative position and orientation. Our experimental findings, which can be explained using tight-binding model calculations, reveal a strong dependence of ferromagnetic interaction on crystallographic orientation. This anisotropic interaction can potentially be exploited by growing oriented Ga1-xMnxAs structures to enhance the ferromagnetic transition temperature beyond that achieved in randomly doped samples. Our experimental methods also provide a realistic approach to create precise arrangements of single spins as coupled quantum bits for memory or information processing purposes

Spin-orbit-induced circulating currents in a semiconductor nanostructure

Circulating orbital currents produced by the spin-orbit interaction for a single electron spin in a quantum dot are explicitly evaluated at zero magnetic field, along with their effect on the total magnetic moment (spin and orbital) of the electron spin. The currents are dominated by coherent superpositions of the conduction and valence envelope functions of the electronic state, are smoothly varying within the quantum dot, and are peaked roughly halfway between the dot center and edge. Thus the spatial structure of the spin contribution to the magnetic moment (which is peaked at the dot center) differs greatly from the spatial structure of the orbital contribution. Even when the spin and orbital magnetic moments cancel (for g ¼ 0) the spin can interact strongly with local magnetic fields, e.g., from other spins, which has implications for spin lifetimes and spin manipulation

Nanoscale tunnel field-effect transistor based on a complex-oxide lateral heterostructure

\u3cp\u3eWe demonstrate a tunnel field-effect transistor based on a lateral heterostructure patterned from an LaAlO3/SrTiO3 electron gas. Charge is injected by tunneling from the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 contacts and the current through a narrow channel of insulating SrTiO3 is controlled via an electrostatic side gate. Drain-source I-V curves are measured at low and elevated temperatures. The transistor shows strong electric-field-dependent and temperature-dependent behavior, with a steep subthreshold slope as small as 10mV/dec and a transconductance as high as approximately 22μA/V. A fully consistent transport model for the drain-source tunneling reproduces the measured steep subthreshold slope.\u3c/p\u3

Observation of the symmetry of core states of a single Fe impurity in GaAs

\u3cp\u3eWe report the direct observation of two mid-gap core d states of differing symmetry for a single Fe atom embedded in GaAs. These states are distinguished by the strength of their hybridization with the surrounding host electronic structure. The midgap state of Fe that does not hybridize via σ bonding is strongly localized to the Fe atom, whereas the other, which does, is extended and comparable in size to other acceptor states. Tight-binding calculations of these midgap states agree with the spatial structure of the measured wave functions and illustrate that such measurements can determine the degree of hybridization via π bonding of impurity d states. These single-dopant midgap states with strong d character, which are intrinsically spin-orbit-entangled, provide an opportunity for probing and manipulating local magnetism and may be of use for high-speed electrical control of single spins.\u3c/p\u3

Spatially resolved electronic structure of an isovalent nitrogen center in GaAs

Small numbers of nitrogen dopants dramatically modify the electronic properties of GaAs, generating spatially localized resonant states within the conduction band, pair and cluster states in the band gap, and very large shifts in the conduction-band energies with nonlinear concentration dependence. Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy provides the local electronic structure of single nitrogen dopants at the (110) GaAs surface, yielding highly anisotropic spatial shapes when the empty states are imaged. Measurements of the resonant states relative to the GaAs surface states and their spatial extent allow an unambiguous assignment of specific features to nitrogen atoms at different depths below the cleaved (110) surface. Multiband tight-binding calculations around the resonance energy of nitrogen in the conduction band match the imaged features, verifying that the Green's function method can accurately describe the isolated isovalent nitrogen impurity. The spatial anisotropy is attributed to the tetrahedral symmetry of the bulk lattice and will lead to a directional dependence for the interaction of nitrogen atoms. Additionally, the voltage dependence of the electronic contrast for two features in the filled state imaging suggests these features could be related to a locally modified surface state

Anisotropy of electron and hole g tensors of quantum dots: An intuitive picture based on spin-correlated orbital currents

Using single spins in semiconductor quantum dots as qubits requires full control over the spin state. As the g tensor provides the coupling in a Hamiltonian between a spin and an external magnetic field, a deeper understanding of the g tensor underlies magnetic-field control of the spin. The g tensor is affected by the presence of spin-correlated orbital currents, of which the spatial structure has been recently clarified. Here we extend that framework to investigate the influence of the shape of quantum dots on the anisotropy of the electron g tensor. We find that the spin-correlated orbital currents form a simple current loop perpendicular to the magnetic moment’s orientation. The current loop is therefore directly sensitive to the shape of the nanostructure: for cylindrical\u3cbr/\u3equantum dots, the electron g-tensor anisotropy is mainly governed by the aspect ratio of the dots. Through a systematic experimental study of the size dependence of the separate electron and hole g tensors of InAs/InP quantum dots, we have validated this picture. Moreover, we find that through size engineering it is possible to independently change the sign of the in-plane and growth direction electron g factors. The hole g tensor is found to be strongly anisotropic and very sensitive to the radius and elongation. The comparable importance of itinerant and localized currents to the hole g tensor complicates the analysis relative to the electron g tensor

Anisotropic spatial structure of deep acceptor states in GaAs and GaP

Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy is used to identify the origin of the anisotropic electronic structure of acceptor states in III–V semiconductors. The density of states introduced by a hole bound to an individual Cd acceptor in GaP is spatially mapped at room temperature. Similar to the Mn hole wave function in GaAs, we found a highly anisotropic, crosslike shape of the hole bound to Cd both at the GaP(110) and the GaP(10) orthogonal cleavage planes. The experimentally observed similarity of the symmetry properties of Mn:GaAs to Cd:GaP shows that the anisotropic structure of acceptor states in zinc-blende III–V compounds is determined by the cubic symmetry of the host crystal. Nevertheless, the weak spin-orbit interaction in GaP leads to a slight modification of the Cd bound-hole wave function relative to that of Mn in GaAs. In addition to the anisotropic angular structure of the d-like spherical harmonic of the wave function, which dominates the appearance of the hole ground state far from the ionic core, the admixture of g-like and higher order spherical harmonics is identified at the sides of the Cd hole wave function. The experimentally obtained results agree with both atomistic tight-binding and envelope-function effective-mass theoretical models

Spatial Structure of Mn-Mn Acceptor Pairs in GaAs

The local density of states of Mn-Mn pairs in GaAs is mapped with cross-sectional scanning tunnelingmicroscopy and compared with theoretical calculations based on envelope-function and tight-bindingmodels. These measurements and calculations show that the crosslike shape of the Mn-acceptor wavefunction in GaAs persists even at very short Mn-Mn spatial separations. The resilience of the Mn-acceptorwave function to high doping levels suggests that ferromagnetism in GaMnAs is strongly influenced byimpurity-band formation. The envelope-function and tight-binding models predict similarly anisotropicoverlaps of the Mn wave functions for Mn-Mn pairs. This anisotropy implies differing Curie temperaturesfor Mn -doped layers grown on differently oriented substrate

Probing the local electronic structure of isovalent Bi atoms in InP

Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (X-STM) is used to experimentally study the influence of isovalent Bi atoms on the electronic structure of InP. We map the spatial pattern of the Bi impurity state, which originates from Bi atoms down to the sixth layer below the surface, in topographic, filled state X-STM images on the natural $\{110\}$ cleavage planes. The Bi impurity state has a highly anisotropic bowtie-like structure and extends over several lattice sites. These Bi-induced charge redistributions extend along the $\left\langle 110\right\rangle$ directions, which define the bowtie-like structures we observe. Local tight-binding calculations reproduce the experimentally observed spatial structure of the Bi impurity state. In addition, the influence of the Bi atoms on the electronic structure is investigated in scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. These measurements show that Bi induces a resonant state in the valence band, which shifts the band edge towards higher energies. This is in good agreement to first principles calculations. Furthermore, we show that the energetic position of the Bi induced resonance and its influence on the onset of the valence band edge depend crucially on the position of the Bi atoms relative to the cleavage plane. Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (X-STM) is used to experimentally study the influence of isovalent Bi atoms on the electronic structure of InP. We map the spatial pattern of the Bi impurity state, which originates from Bi atoms down to the sixth layer below the surface, in topographic, filled state X-STM images on the natural {110} cleavage planes. The Bi impurity state has a highly anisotropic bowtie-like structure and extends over several lattice sites. These Bi-induced charge redistributions extend along the ⟨110⟩ directions, which define the bowtie-like structures we observe. Local tight-binding calculations reproduce the experimentally observed spatial structure of the Bi impurity state. In addition, the influence of the Bi atoms on the electronic structure is investigated in scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. These measurements show that Bi induces a resonant state in the valence band, which shifts the band edge towards higher energies. This is in good agreement to first principles calculations. Furthermore, we show that the energetic position of the Bi induced resonance and its influence on the onset of the valence band edge depend crucially on the position of the Bi atoms relative to the cleavage plane