47 research outputs found
Reflection of electrons from a domain wall in magnetic nanojunctions
Electronic transport through thin and laterally constrained domain walls in
ferromagnetic nanojunctions is analyzed theoretically. The description is
formulated in the basis of scattering states. The resistance of the domain wall
is calculated in the regime of strong electron reflection from the wall. It is
shown that the corresponding magnetoresistance can be large, which is in a
qualitative agreement with recent experimental observations. We also calculate
the spin current flowing through the wall and the spin polarization of electron
gas due to reflections from the domain wall.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Interlayer coupling in ferromagnetic semiconductor superlattices
We develop a mean-field theory of carrier-induced ferromagnetism in diluted
magnetic semiconductors. Our approach represents an improvement over standard
RKKY model allowing spatial inhomogeneity of the system, free-carrier spin
polarization, finite temperature, and free-carrier exchange and correlation to
be accounted for self-consistently. As an example, we calculate the electronic
structure of a MnGaAs/GaAs superlattice with alternating
ferromagnetic and paramagnetic layers and demonstrate the possibility of
semiconductor magnetoresistance systems with designed properties.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Ferromagnetism in Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Heterojunction Systems
Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), in which magnetic elements are
substituted for a small fraction of host elements in a semiconductor lattice,
can become ferromagnetic when doped. In this article we discuss the physics of
DMS ferromagnetism in systems with semiconductor heterojunctions. We focus on
the mechanism that cause magnetic and magnetoresistive properties to depend on
doping profiles, defect distributions, gate voltage, and other system
parameters that can in principle be engineered to yield desired results.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, review, special issue of Semicon. Sci. Technol.
on semiconductor spintronic
Mn-doped Ga(As,P) and (Al,Ga)As ferromagnetic semiconductors: Electronic structure calculations
Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at http://journals.aps.org/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 hole-mediated 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
Calculated oscillation periods of the interlayer coupling in Fe/Cr/Fe and Fe/Mo/Fe sandwiches
Nonvolatile ferroelectric control of ferromagnetism in (Ga,Mn)As
There is currently much interest in materials and structures that provide
coupled ferroelectric and ferromagnetic responses, with a long-term goal of
developing new memories and spintronic logic elements. Within the field there
is a focus on composites coupled by magnetostrictive and piezoelectric strain
transmitted across ferromagnetic-ferroelectric interfaces, but substrate
clamping limits the response in the supported multilayer configuration favoured
for devices. This constraint is avoided in a ferroelectric-ferromagnetic
bilayer in which the magnetic response is modulated by the electric field of
the poled ferroelectric. Here, we report the realization of such a device using
a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) channel and a polymer ferroelectric
gate. Polarization reversal of the gate by a single voltage pulse results in a
persistent modulation of the Curie temperature as large as 5%. The device
demonstrates direct and quantitatively understood electric-fieldmediated
coupling in a multiferroic bilayer and may provide new routes to nanostructured
DMS materials and devices via ferroelectric domain nanopatterning. The
successful implementation of a polymer-ferroelectric gate fieldeffect
transistor (FeFET) with a DMS channel adds a new functionality to semiconductor
spintronics and may be of importance for future low-voltage spintronics devices
and memory structures.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure