Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Fundamental Curie temperature limit in ferromagneticGa1-xMnxAs

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
OSTI ID:900767
We provide unambiguous experimental evidence that the upper limit of {approx}110 K commonly observed for the Curie temperature TC of Ga{sub 1-x}Mn{sub x}As is caused by the Fermi-level-induced hole saturation. This conclusion is based on parallel studies of the location of Mn in the lattice, the effectiveness of acceptor center, and ferromagnetism on a series of Ga{sub 1-x-y}Mn{sub x}Be{sub y}As layers, in which the concentration of magnetic moments and of free holes can be independently controlled by the Mn and Be contents. Ion channeling and magnetization measurements show a dramatic increase of the concentration of Mn interstitials accompanied by a reduction of T{sub C} with increasing Be concentration. At the same time the free hole concentration remains relatively constant at {approx}5 x 10{sup 20}cm{sup -3}. These results indicate that the concentrations of free holes as well as of ferromagnetically active Mn spins are governed by the position of the Fermi level, which controls the formation energy of compensating interstitial Mn donors. Based on these results, we propose to use heavy n-type counter-doping of Ga{sub 1-x}Mn{sub x}As (by, e.g., Te) to suppress the formation of Mn interstitials at high x, and thus improve the T{sub C} of the alloy system.
Research Organization:
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Director, Office of Science. Office of Basic EnergySciences. Materials Science and Engineering Division
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
900767
Report Number(s):
LBNL--51544; BnR: KC0201030
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 68; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Thermodynamic limits to the maximum Curie temperature in Ga1-xMnxAs
Conference · Fri Jul 19 00:00:00 EDT 2002 · OSTI ID:803855

Effect of the location of Mn sites in ferromagnetic GaMnAs on its Curie temperature
Journal Article · Wed Jan 16 23:00:00 EST 2002 · Physical Review B · OSTI ID:837397

Direct evidence of the fermi-energy-dependent formation of Mn interstitials in modulation doped Ga1-yAlyAs/Ga1-xMnxAs/Ga1-yAlyAs heterostructures
Journal Article · Thu Jan 29 23:00:00 EST 2004 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:840028