Interlayer exchange coupling in ferromagnet-semiconductor digital magnetic alloys
- Kurchatov Institute Russian Research Center (Russian Federation), E-mail: tugushev@mail.ru
The interlayer exchange coupling in ferromagnet-semiconductor digital magnetic alloys in which monolyers (submonolayers) of transition metals are embedded into a semiconductor matrix is studied theoretically. A mechanism of an indirect exchange between ferromagnetic {delta} layers is proposed; it is based on the confinement of carriers in two-dimensional spin-polarized states inside the energy gap of the semiconductor. These appear due to strong potential and exchange carrier scattering by the {delta} layers. The interlayer exchange coupling is shown to occur through a nondegenerate semiconductor interlayer because of virtual electron excitations through an energy barrier separating these partly filled two-dimensional spin-polarized states and the edge of the bulk semiconductor band. The interlayer coupling intensity decreases exponentially with increasing distance between neighboring {delta} layers, and the type of this coupling can change from ferromagnetic into antiferromagnetic or vice versa as the interlayer thickness or the degree of filling the two-dimensional states increases.
- OSTI ID:
- 21242010
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 106, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1134/S1063776108050117; Copyright (c) 2008 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-7761
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Interlayer RKKY coupling in bulk Rashba semiconductors under topological phase transition
Interlayer exchange coupling in iron/silicon nanostructures