Guo J, Sarikhani A, Ghosh P, Heitmann T, Hor Y S, Singh D K
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri Columbia MO USA
Department of Physics, Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla MO USA.
RSC Adv. 2023 Mar 15;13(13):8551-8556. doi: 10.1039/d2ra08105a. eCollection 2023 Mar 14.
Magnetic semiconductors are at the core of recent spintronics research endeavors. Chemically doped II-VI diluted magnetic semiconductors, such as (Zn Cr )Te, provide a promising platform in this quest. However, a detailed knowledge of the microscopic nature of magnetic ground state is necessary for any practical application. Here, we report on the synergistic study of (Zn Cr )Te single crystals using elastic neutron scattering measurements and density functional calculations. For the first time, our research unveils the intrinsic properties of ferromagnetic state in a macroscopic specimen of (ZnCr)Te. The ferromagnetism is onset at ∼ 290 K and remains somewhat independent to modest change in the substitution coefficient . We show that magnetic moments on Zn/Cr sites develop ferromagnetic correlation in the - plane with a large ordered moment of = 3.08 . Magnetic moment across the lattice is induced the mediation of Te sites, uncoupled to the number of dopant carriers as inferred from the density functional calculation. Additionally, the calculations also reveal half-metallicity in = 0.2 composition. These properties are highly desirable for future spintronic applications.
磁性半导体是近期自旋电子学研究工作的核心。化学掺杂的II - VI族稀磁半导体，如（ZnCr）Te，为这一研究提供了一个很有前景的平台。然而，对于任何实际应用而言，深入了解磁性基态的微观本质都是必要的。在此，我们报告了利用弹性中子散射测量和密度泛函计算对（ZnCr）Te单晶进行的协同研究。我们的研究首次揭示了（ZnCr）Te宏观样品中铁磁态的本征特性。铁磁性在约290 K时开始出现，并且在替代系数适度变化时仍保持一定程度的独立性。我们表明，Zn/Cr位点上的磁矩在xy平面内形成铁磁关联，有序磁矩较大，为3.08 μB。通过Te位点的介导在整个晶格中感应出磁矩，根据密度泛函计算推断，这与掺杂载流子的数量无关。此外，计算还揭示了x = 0.2成分中的半金属性。这些特性对于未来的自旋电子学应用非常理想。
