Imaging of the [Mn2+(3d5) + hole] complex in GaAs by Cross-sectional Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

TL;DR

This study uses cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy to directly image the wave-function of a hole bound to a Mn acceptor in GaAs, revealing the complex's spatial structure at the atomic scale.

Contribution

First direct spatial imaging of the [Mn2+(3d5) + hole] complex in GaAs at room temperature using X-STM.

Findings

Mn manifests as an anisotropic cross-like feature in neutral state

The feature is attributed to a weakly bound hole forming the complex

Imaging distinguishes ionized and neutral Mn dopants

Abstract

We present results on the direct spatial mapping of the wave-function of a hole bound to a Mn acceptor in GaAs. To investigate individual Mn dopants at the atomic scale in both ionized and neutral configurations, we used a room temperature cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscope (X-STM). We found that in the neutral configuration manganese manifests itself as an anisotropic cross-like feature. We attribute this feature to a hole weakly bound to the Mn ion forming the [Mn2+(3d5) + hole] complex.