Ferromagnetism in (In,Mn)As Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Thin Films Grown by Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

TL;DR

This study reports the growth and magnetic properties of (In,Mn)As diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films, demonstrating room-temperature ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature of 333 K, using MOVPE techniques.

Contribution

It presents a method to grow high-quality (In,Mn)As films with ferromagnetic order at room temperature, highlighting the role of Mn clustering in ferromagnetism.

Findings

Room-temperature ferromagnetism observed at x=0.1

Curie temperature of 333 K measured

High-quality epitaxial films achieved

Abstract

In1-xMnxAs diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) thin films have been grown using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Tricarbonyl(methylcyclopentadienyl)manganese was used as the Mn source. Nominally single-phase, epitaxial films were achieved with Mn content as high as x=0.14 using growth temperatures Tg>475 C. For lower growth temperatures and higher Mn concentrations, nanometer scale MnAs precipitates were detected within the In1-xMnxAs matrix. Magnetic properties of the films were investigated using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. Room-temperature ferromagnetic order was observed in a sample with x=0.1. Magnetization measurements indicated a Curie temperature of 333 K and a room-temperature saturation magnetization of 49 emu/cm^3. The remnant magnetization and the coercive field were small, with values of 10 emu/cm^3 and 400 Oe, respectively. A mechanism for this high-temperature ferromagnetism is discussed in light of the recent theory based on the formation of small clusters of a few magnetic atoms.