Structural and magnetic properties of Mn-implanted Si

TL;DR

This study investigates the structural and magnetic properties of Mn-implanted silicon, revealing the formation of MnSi1.7 nanoparticles and their role in ferromagnetism, with implications for spintronic applications.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates the formation of MnSi1.7 nanoparticles in Mn-implanted Si and links their size and presence to ferromagnetic behavior, without Mn substitution in Si sites.

Findings

MnSi1.7 nanoparticles form in implanted Si

Nanoparticle size increases with annealing and Mn-fluence

Ferromagnetism attributed to MnSi1.7 nanoparticles

Abstract

Structural and ferromagnetic properties in Mn implanted, p-type Si were investigated. High resolution structural analysis techniques like synchrotron X-ray diffraction revealed the formation of MnSi1.7 nanoparticles already in the as implanted samples. Depending on the Mn-fluence, the size increases from 5 nm to 20 nm upon rapid thermal annealing. No significant evidence is found for Mn substituting Si sites either in the as-implanted or annealed samples. The observed ferromagnetism yields a saturation moment of 0.21 mu_B per implanted Mn at 10 K, which could be assigned to MnSi1.7 nanoparticles as revealed by a temperature dependent magnetization measurement.