Precise tuning of the Curie temperature of (Ga,Mn)As-based magnetic semiconductors by hole compensation: Support for valence-band ferromagnetism

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that precise hole compensation in (Ga,Mn)As-based semiconductors allows tuning of the Curie temperature, supporting the valence-band model of ferromagnetism over the impurity-band model.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence using helium-ion implantation to control carrier concentration and validate the valence-band ferromagnetism model in (Ga,Mn)As.

Findings

Curie temperature decreases smoothly with hole compensation

Transition from metallic to insulating conduction with compensation

Existence of ferromagnetism below 10 K in heavily compensated samples

Abstract

For the prototype diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As, there is a fundamental concern about the electronic states near the Fermi level, i.e., whether the Fermi level resides in a well-separated impurity band derived from Mn doping (impurity-band model) or in the valence band that is already merged with the Mn-derived impurity band (valence-band model). We investigate this question by carefully shifting the Fermi level by means of carrier compensation. We use helium-ion implantation, a standard industry technology, to precisely compensate the hole doping of GaAs-based diluted ferromagnetic semiconductors while keeping the Mn concentration constant. We monitor the change of Curie temperature ($T_C$) and conductivity. For a broad range of samples including (Ga,Mn)As and (Ga,Mn)(As,P) with various Mn and P concentrations, we observe a smooth decrease of $T_C$ with carrier compensation over a wide temperature range while the conduction is changed from metallic to insulating. The existence of $T_C$ below 10\,K is also confirmed in heavily compensated samples. Our experimental results are naturally explained within the valence-band picture.