54 research outputs found
First principles study of the origin and nature of ferromagnetism in (Ga,Mn)As
The properties of diluted GaMnAs are calculated for a wide range
of Mn concentrations within the local spin density approximation of density
functional theory. M\"ulliken population analyses and orbital-resolved
densities of states show that the configuration of Mn in GaAs is compatible
with either 3d or 3d, however the occupation is not integer due to the
large - hybridization between the Mn states and the valence band of
GaAs. The spin splitting of the conduction band of GaAs has a mean field-like
linear variation with the Mn concentration and indicates ferromagnetic coupling
with the Mn ions. In contrast the valence band is antiferromagnetically coupled
with the Mn impurities and the spin splitting is not linearly dependent on the
Mn concentration. This suggests that the mean field approximation breaks down
in the case of Mn-doped GaAs and corrections due to multiple scattering must be
considered. We calculate these corrections within a simple free electron model
and find good agreement with our {\it ab initio} results if a large exchange
constant (eV) is assumed.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure
Photoemission studies of GaMnAs: Mn-concentration dependent properties
Using angle-resolved photoemission, we have investigated the development of
the electronic structure and the Fermi level pinnning in GaMnAs
with Mn concentrations in the range 1--6%. We find that the Mn-induced changes
in the valence-band spectra depend strongly on the Mn concentration, suggesting
that the interaction between the Mn ions is more complex than assumed in
earlier studies. The relative position of the Fermi level is also found to be
concentration-dependent. In particular we find that for concentrations around
3.5--5% it is located very close to the valence-band maximum, which is in the
range where metallic conductivity has been reported in earlier studies. For
concentration outside this range, larger as well as smaller, the Fermi level is
found to be pinned at about 0.15 eV higher energy.Comment: REVTeX style; 7 pages, 3 figure
Charge and spin distributions in GaMnAs/GaAs Ferromagnetic Multilayers
A self-consistent electronic structure calculation based on the
Luttinger-Kohn model is performed on GaMnAs/GaAs multilayers. The Diluted
Magnetic Semiconductor layers are assumed to be metallic and ferromagnetic. The
high Mn concentration (considered as 5% in our calculation) makes it possible
to assume the density of magnetic moments as a continuous distribution, when
treating the magnetic interaction between holes and the localized moment on the
Mn(++) sites. Our calculation shows the distribution of heavy holes and light
holes in the structure. A strong spin-polarization is observed, and the charge
is concentrated mostly on the GaMnAs layers, due to heavy and light holes with
their total angular momentum aligned anti-parallel to the average
magnetization. The charge and spin distributions are analyzed in terms of their
dependence on the number of multilayers, the widths of the GaMnAs and GaAs
layers, and the width of lateral GaAs layers at the borders of the structure.Comment: 12 pages,7 figure
Carrier induced ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semi-conductors
We present a theory for carrier induced ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic
semi-conductor (DMS). Our approach treats on equal footing quantum fluctuations
within the RPA approximation and disorder within CPA. This method allows for
the calculation of , magnetization and magnon spectrum as a function of
hole, impurity concentration and temperature. It is shown that, sufficiently
close to , and within our decoupling scheme (Tyablicov type) the CPA for
the itinerant electron gas reduces to the Virtual Crystal Approximation. This
allows, in the low impurity concentration and low density of carriers to
provide analytical expression for . For illustration, we consider the case
of and compare our results with available experimental data.Comment: 5 figures included. to appear in Phys. Rev. B (brief report
Infrared magneto-optical properties of (III,Mn)V ferromagetic semiconductors
We present a theoretical study of the infrared magneto-optical properties of
ferromagnetic (III,Mn)V semiconductors. Our analysis combines the kinetic
exchange model for (III,Mn)V ferromagnetism with Kubo linear response theory
and Born approximation estimates for the effect of disorder on the valence band
quasiparticles. We predict a prominent feature in the ac-Hall conductivity at a
frequency that varies over the range from 200 to 400 meV, depending on Mn and
carrier densities, and is associated with transitions between heavy-hole and
light-hole bands. In its zero frequency limit, our Hall conductivity reduces to
the -space Berry's phase value predicted by a recent theory of the
anomalous Hall effect that is able to account quantitatively for experiment. We
compute theoretical estimates for magnetic circular dichroism, Faraday
rotation, and Kerr effect parameters as a function of Mn concentration and free
carrier density. The mid-infrared response feature is present in each of these
magneto-optical effects.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
On-site Coulomb interaction and the magnetism of (GaMn)N and (GaMn)As
We use the local density approximation (LDA) and LDA+U schemes to study the
magnetism of (GaMn)As and (GaMn)N for a number of Mn concentrations and varying
number of holes. We show that for both systems and both calculational schemes
the presence of holes is crucial for establishing ferromagnetism. For both
systems, the introduction of increases delocalization of the holes and,
simultaneously, decreases the p-d interaction. Since these two trends exert
opposite influences on the Mn-Mn exchange interaction the character of the
variation of the Curie temperature (T) cannot be predicted without direct
calculation. We show that the variation of T is different for two systems.
For low Mn concentrations we obtain the tendency to increasing T in the
case of (GaMn)N whereas an opposite tendency to decreasing T is obtained
for (GaMn)As. We reveal the origin of this difference by inspecting the
properties of the densities of states and holes for both systems. The main body
of calculations is performed within a supercell approach. The Curie
temperatures calculated within the coherent potential approximation to atomic
disorder are reported for comparison. Both approaches give similar qualitative
behavior. The results of calculations are related to the experimental data.Comment: to appear in Physical Review
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
Temperature-dependent magnetization in diluted magnetic semiconductors
We calculate magnetization in magnetically doped semiconductors assuming a
local exchange model of carrier-mediated ferromagnetic mechanism and using a
number of complementary theoretical approaches. In general, we find that the
results of our mean-field calculations, particularly the dynamical mean field
theory results, give excellent qualitative agreement with the experimentally
observed magnetization in systems with itinerant charge carriers, such as
Ga_{1-x}Mn_xAs with 0.03 < x < 0.07, whereas our percolation-theory-based
calculations agree well with the existing data in strongly insulating
materials, such as Ge_{1-x}Mn_x. We comment on the issue of non-mean-field like
magnetization curves and on the observed incomplete saturation magnetization
values in diluted magnetic semiconductors from our theoretical perspective. In
agreement with experimental observations, we find the carrier density to be the
crucial parameter determining the magnetization behavior. Our calculated
dependence of magnetization on external magnetic field is also in excellent
agreement with the existing experimental data.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figure
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