Spinodal Decomposition of Magnetic Ions in Eu-Codoped Ge/1-x/Cr/x/Te

TL;DR

This study provides experimental evidence of spinodal decomposition of magnetic ions in Eu- and Cr-codoped GeTe, revealing ferromagnetic order at 50-57 K influenced by composition and magnetic interactions.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of spinodal decomposition of magnetic ions in Eu-Cr-codoped GeTe with detailed magnetic characterization.

Findings

Ferromagnetic transition observed at 50-57 K.

Magnetic properties depend strongly on chemical composition.

Long-range carrier-mediated magnetic interactions drive ferromagnetism.

Abstract

We present the experimental evidence for the presence of spinodal decomposition of the magnetic ions in the Ge/1-x-y/Cr/x/Eu/y/Te samples with chemical composition varying in the range of 0.015 < x < 0.057 and 0.003 < y < 0.042. The ferromagnetic transition at temperatures 50 < T < 57 K was observed, independent of the chemical composition. The long-range carrier mediated itinerant magnetic interactions seem to be responsible for the observed ferromagnetic order. The magnetic irreversibility with coercive field H/C/ = 5?63 mT and the saturation magnetization M/S/ <? 2?6 emu/g are found to strongly depend on the chemical composition of the alloy.