Disorder effects in diluted magnetic semiconductors

TL;DR

This paper reviews how disorder impacts the electronic and magnetic properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors, emphasizing theoretical insights into defect types, transport, magnetism, and spin models.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical approaches to understanding disorder effects in diluted magnetic semiconductors, including defect analysis and spin models.

Findings

Disorder significantly influences transport and magnetic properties.

Different defect types and distributions affect material behavior.

Spin-only models help simplify the understanding of magnetic interactions.

Abstract

In recent years, disorder has been shown to be crucial for the understanding of diluted magnetic semiconductors. Effects of disorder in these materials are reviewed with the emphasis on theoretical works. The types and spatial distribution of defects are discussed. The effect of disorder on the intimately related transport and magnetic properties are considered from the viewpoint of both the band picture and the isolated-impurity approach. Finally, the derivation and properties of spin-only models are reviewed.