Recent advances in the theory and experimental realization of ferromagnetic semiconductors give hope that a new generation of microelectronic devices based on the spin degree of freedom of the electron can be developed. This review focuses primarily on promising candidate materials (such as GaN, GaP and ZnO) in which there is already a technology base and a fairly good understanding of the basic electrical and optical properties. The introduction of Mn into these and other materials under the right conditions is found to produce ferromagnetism near or above room temperature. There are a number of other potential dopant ions that could be employed (such as Fe, Ni, Co, Cr) as suggested by theory [see, for example, Sato and Katayama-Yoshida, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part 2 39, L555 (2000)]. Growth of these ferromagnetic materials by thin film techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy or pulsed laser deposition, provides excellent control of the dopant concentration and the ability to grow single-phase layers. T...

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Wide band gap ferromagnetic semiconductors and oxides

Spintronics refers commonly to phenomena in which the spin of electrons in a solid state environment plays the determining role In a more narrow sense spintronics is an emerging research field of electronics: spintronics devices are based on a spin control of electronics, or on an electrical and optical control of spin or magnetism This review presents selected themes of semiconductor spintronics, introducing important concepts in spin transport, spin injection, Silsbee-Johnson spin-charge coupling, and spindependent tunneling, as well as spin relaxation and spin dynamics The most fundamental spin-dependent nteraction in nonmagnetic semiconductors is spin-orbit coupling Depending on the crystal symmetries of the material, as well as on the structural properties of semiconductor based heterostructures, the spin-orbit coupling takes on different functional forms, giving a nice playground of effective spin-orbit Hamiltonians The effective Hamiltonians for the most relevant classes of materials and heterostructures are derived here from realistic electronic band structure descriptions Most semiconductor device systems are still theoretical concepts, waiting for experimental demonstrations A review of selected proposed, and a few demonstrated devices is presented, with detailed description of two important classes: magnetic resonant tunnel structures and bipolar magnetic diodes and transistors In most cases the presentation is of tutorial style, introducing the essential theoretical formalism at an accessible level, with case-study-like illustrations of actual experimental results, as well as with brief reviews of relevant recent achievements in the field

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Semiconductor Spintronics

We review experimental studies of the time decay of the nonequilibrium magnetization in high-temperature superconductors, a phenomenon known as magnetic relaxation. This effect has its origin in motion of flux lines out of their pinning sites due to thermal activation or quantum tunneling. The combination of relatively weak flux pinning and high temperatures leads to rich properties that are unconventional in the context of low temperature superconductivity and that have been the subject to intense studies. The results are assessed from a purely experimental perspective and discussed in the context of present phenomenological theories. [S0034-6861(96)00403-5]

Magnetic relaxation in high-temperature superconductors

Existing semiconductor electronic and photonic devices utilize the charge on electrons and holes in order to perform their specific functionality such as signal processing or light emission. The relatively new field of semiconductor spintronics seeks, in addition, to exploit the spin of charge carriers in new generations of transistors, lasers and integrated magnetic sensors. The ability to control of spin injection, transport and detection leads to the potential for new classes of ultra-low power, high speed memory, logic and photonic devices. The utility of such devices depends on the availability of materials with practical (>300 K) magnetic ordering temperatures. In this paper, we summarize recent progress in dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) such as (Ga, Mn)N, (Ga, Mn)P, (Zn, Mn)O and (Zn, Mn)SiGeN2 exhibiting room temperature ferromagnetism, the origins of the magnetism and its potential applications in novel devices such as spin-polarized light emitters and spin field effect transistors.

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Advances in wide bandgap materials for semiconductor spintronics

We have investigated the magnetic properties of Mn-implanted n-type ZnO single crystals that are codoped with Sn. Theory predicts that room-temperature carrier-mediated ferromagnetism should be possible in manganese-doped p-type ZnO, although Mn-doped n-type ZnO should not be ferromagnetic. While previous efforts report only low-temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-doped ZnO that is n type via shallow donors, we find evidence for ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature of ∼250 K in ZnO that is codoped with Mn and Sn. As a 4+ valence cation, Sn should behave as a doubly ionized donor, thus introducing states deep in the gap. Hysteresis is clearly observed in magnetization versus field curves. Differences in zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization persists up to ∼250 K for Sn-doped ZnO crystals implanted with 3 at. % Mn. Increasing the Mn concentration to 5 at. % significantly reduces the magnetic hysteresis. This latter observation is inconsistent with the origin for ferromagnetism being due to segregated secondary phases, and strongly suggests that a near-room-temperature dilute magnetic semiconducting oxide has been realized. Based on these results, ZnO doped with Mn and Sn may prove promising as a ferromagnetic semiconductor for spintronics.

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Ferromagnetism in Mn-implanted ZnO:Sn single crystals

We have successfully fabricated highly (up to 6%) Mn-doped bulk Ge single crystals. The lattice constant increases linearly with Mn concentration due to the larger Mn atomic radius compared with Ge, strongly indicating that Mn ions are being incorporated into the host Ge lattice. Alloys with lower Mn concentrations showed paramagnetism due to localized magnetic ions. ${\mathrm{Ge}}_{0.94}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{0.06}$ showed ferromagnetic ordering at \ensuremath{\sim}285 K, as determined from temperature-dependent magnetization and resistance measurements. The coersive field was 1260 Oe at 250 K.

Ferromagnetism in Mn-doped Ge

We report on the discovery of a room-temperature ferromagnetic semiconductor in chalcopyrite $({\mathrm{Zn}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{x}){\mathrm{GeP}}_{2}$ with ${T}_{c}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}312\mathrm{K}$. We have also observed that, at temperatures below 47 K, samples for $x\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0.056$ and 0.2 show a transition to the antiferromagnetic (AFM) state, so that ferromagnetism is well defined to be present between 47 and 312 K. The observation that the AFM phase is most stable at low temperatures is consistent with the predictions of full-potential linearized augmented plane wave total energy calculations and has consequences for other chalcopyrite materials.

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in (Zn1-xmnx)GeP2 semiconductors

We have fabricated Cr-doped bulk Ge single crystal using the vertical gradient solidification method. The material shows ferromagnetic ordering at 126 K, as determined from temperature-dependent magnetization and resistance measurements. A sample with x=0.01 was p type with nh=3×1017 cm−3 at 350 K. The measured magnetic moment per Cr was 0.83μB at 5 K.

Ferromagnetism in Cr-doped Ge

We have fabricated Cr and Fe-doped bulk Ge single crystal using the vertical gradient solidification method. The Cr-doped Ge single crystal showed ferromagnetic ordering at 126 K, as determined from temperature dependent magnetization and resistance measurements. The measured magnetic moment per Cr was 0.83 μB at 5 K. On the other hand, Fe0.05Ge0.95 showed ferromagnetic ordering at 233 K. The coersive field was 80 Oe at 5 K.

Ferromagnetic properties in Cr, Fe-doped Ge single crystals

We present a study of the effects of adding a two-dimensional (2-D) SiO2 corrugated substrate onto a ZnS:Mn thin-film electroluminescence (EL) device on its EL properties. Two-step irradiated hologram lithography and reactive ion etching were used to fabricate a 2-D square-lattice-dotted pattern of SiO2 on the glass substrate. The addition of this corrugation leads to a 220% enhancement in the EL efficiency at 40 V above the threshold voltage under a 500-Hz sinusoidal excitation. This improvement in the output coupling efficiency is due to the diffraction scattering produced by the 2-D SiO2 periodic corrugations.

Yul-Seong Kim

Papers

Ferromagnetism in Mn-doped Ge

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in (Zn1-xmnx)GeP2 semiconductors

Ferromagnetism in Cr-doped Ge

Ferromagnetic properties in Cr, Fe-doped Ge single crystals

Improved output coupling efficiency of a ZnS:Mn thin-film electroluminescent device with addition of a two-dimensional SiO2 corrugated substrate