稀磁半导体的研究进展

本文主要介绍了III-V族稀磁半导体(Ga,Mn)As的研究进展,包括(Ga,Mn)As的生长制备、基本磁性质、磁输运特征、磁光性质、磁性起源、相关的异质结构和自旋注入等,同时还简单介绍了其它稀磁半导体如IV族、III-VI族和IV-VI族等稀磁半导体的研究进展,在文章的最后描述了理想的稀磁半导体应该具备的特征以及对未来的展望。     

稀磁半导体的研究进展

本文主要介绍了III-V族稀磁半导体(Ga,Mn)As的研究进展,包括(Ga,Mn)As的生长制备、基本磁性质、磁输运特征、磁光性质、磁性起源、相关的异质结构和自旋注入等,同时还简单介绍了其它稀磁半导体如IV族、III-VI族和IV-VI族等稀磁半导体的研究进展,在文章的最后描述了理想的稀磁半导体应该具备的特征以及对未来的展望。     

过渡金属掺杂的扶手椅型氮化硼纳米带的磁电子学特性及力-磁耦合效应

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法,研究了多种过渡金属(TM)掺杂扶手椅型氮化硼纳米带(ABNNR-TM)的结构特点、磁电子特性及力-磁耦合效应.计算的结合能及分子动力学模拟表明ABNNRTM的几何结构是较稳定的,同时发现对于不同的TM掺杂,ABNNRs能表现出丰富的磁电子学特性,可以是双极化磁性半导体、一般磁性半导体、无磁半导体或无磁金属.双极化磁性半导体是一种重要的稀磁半导体材料,它在巨磁阻器件和自旋整流器件上有重要的应用.此外,力-磁偶合效应研究表明:ABNNR-TM的磁电子学特性对应力作用十分敏感,能实现无磁金属、无磁半导体、磁金属、磁半导体、双极化磁性半导体、半金属等之间的相变.特别是呈现的宽带隙半金属对于发展自旋电子器件有重要意义.这些结果表明:可以通过力学方法来调控ABNNR-TM的磁电子学特性.     

II-VI族稀磁半导体微纳结构中的激子磁极化子及其发光

自旋是基本粒子（电子、光子）角动量的内在形式.固体中体现自旋特征的集体电子行为如拓扑绝缘体等是当前凝聚态物理领域关注的焦点,是基态行为.激子作为电子空穴对的激发态且寿命很短,可复合发光,它是否能体现自旋极化主导的行为?对此人们的认识远不如针对基态的电子.激子磁极化子（exciton magnetic polaron,EMP）是由磁性半导体微结构中铁磁自旋耦合态与自由激子相互作用形成的复合元激发,但其研究很有限.本文概述了我们在稀磁半导体微纳米结构中的EMP及其发光动态学光谱、自旋极化激子凝聚态的形成方面取得的一些进展,展望了未来可能在自旋光电子器件、磁控激光、光致磁性等量子技术方面的潜在应用.     

Ⅱ-Ⅵ族稀磁半导体微纳结构中的激子磁极化子及其发光

自旋是基本粒子(电子、光子)角动量的内在形式.固体中体现自旋特征的集体电子行为如拓扑绝缘体等是当前凝聚态物理领域关注的焦点,是基态行为.激子作为电子空穴对的激发态且寿命很短,可复合发光,它是否能体现自旋极化主导的行为?对此人们的认识远不如针对基态的电子.激子磁极化子(exciton magnetic polaron, EMP)是由磁性半导体微结构中铁磁自旋耦合态与自由激子相互作用形成的复合元激发,但其研究很有限.本文概述了我们在稀磁半导体微纳米结构中的EMP及其发光动态学光谱、自旋极化激子凝聚态的形成方面取得的一些进展,展望了未来可能在自旋光电子器件、磁控激光、光致磁性等量子技术方面的潜在应用.     

自旋和电荷分别掺杂的新一类稀磁半导体研究进展

稀磁半导体兼具半导体材料和磁性材料的双重特性,是破解摩尔定律难题的方案之一.我们团队通过提出自旋和电荷分别掺杂的机制,研制发现了一类新型稀磁半导体材料,为突破经典稀磁半导体材料自旋和电荷一体掺杂引起的材料制备瓶颈提供了有效解决方案.(Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)_2As_2(BZA)等新型稀磁半导体通过等价掺杂磁性离子引入自旋、异价非磁性离子掺杂引入电荷,实现了230 K的居里温度,刷新了可控型稀磁半导体的居里温度记录.本文重点介绍1)几种代表性的自旋和电荷掺杂机制分离的新型稀磁半导体的发现与研制; 2)新型稀磁半导体的μ子自旋弛豫与高压物性结构的调控; 3)大尺寸单晶生长、基于单晶的安德烈夫异质结研制以及自旋极化率的测量.通过新材料设计研制、综合物性研究、简单原型器件构建的"全链条"模式研究,开拓了自旋电荷分别掺杂的稀磁半导体材料研究领域,展现了这类新型稀磁半导体材料潜在的光明前景.     

光场辐照下稀磁半导体/半导体超晶格中自旋电子输运特性研究

基于单电子有效质量近似理论和传递矩阵方法,理论研究了稀磁半导体/半导体超晶格结构中电子的自旋极化输运特性.主要讨论了光场和磁场联合调制对自旋极化输运的影响,以及不同自旋电子在该超晶格结构中的隧穿时间.理论和数值计算结果表明,由于导带电子与掺杂Mn离子之间的sp-d电子相互作用引起巨塞曼劈裂,因此在磁场调制下,不同自旋电子在该结构中感受到的势函数不同而呈现出自旋过滤效应,不同自旋电子的共振透射能带的位置和宽度可以通过磁场进行调制.同时在该结构中考虑光场时,自旋依赖的透射谱会因为吸收和发射光子而呈现出对光场的强度和频率响应;最后,通过不同自旋电子的高斯波包在该结构中随时间的演化给出了不同自旋电子的隧穿时间.本文研究结果对研究和设计基于稀磁半导体/半导体超晶格结构的高速量子器件具有一定的指导意义.     

面向应用的新一代稀磁半导体研究进展

稀磁半导体具有能同时调控电荷与自旋的特性,是破解摩尔定律难题的候选材料之一.我们团队率先提出了稀磁半导体中自旋和电荷掺杂分离的机制,探索并研制了新一代稀磁半导体材料,为突破经典稀磁半导体材料的制备瓶颈提供了有效解决方案.以(Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)₂As₂等为代表的新一代稀磁半导体,通过等价态的Mn掺杂引入自旋、异价态的非磁性离子掺杂引入电荷,成功实现了230 K的居里温度,刷新了可控型稀磁半导体的居里温度记录.本文将重点介绍几种代表性的新一代稀磁半导体的设计与研制、新一代稀磁半导体的综合物性表征、大尺寸单晶生长以及基于单晶的安德烈夫异质结研制.我们团队通过新一代稀磁半导体的新材料设计研制、综合物性研究、简单原型器件构建的“全链条”模式研究,开拓了自旋电荷分别掺杂的稀磁半导体材料研究领域,充分展现了自旋和电荷掺杂分离的新一代稀磁半导体材料潜在应用前景.     

源于非晶合金的透明磁性半导体

磁性半导体兼具磁性和半导体特性,通过操控电子自旋,有望实现接近完全的电子极化,提供一种全新的导电方式和器件概念.目前磁性半导体的研究对象主要为稀磁半导体,采用在非磁性半导体中添加过渡族磁性元素使半导体获得内禀磁性的方法进行制备.但大部分稀磁半导体仅具有低温磁性,成为限制其在室温可操控电子器件中应用的瓶颈.针对这一关键科学问题,本文提出与传统稀磁半导体制备方法相反的合成思路,在磁性非晶合金中引入非金属元素诱发金属-半导体转变,使磁性非晶获得半导体电性,研制出具有新奇磁、光、电耦合特性的非晶态浓磁半导体,揭示其载流子调制磁性的内禀机理,发展出可在室温下工作的p-n结及电控磁器件.     

表面活性剂和n型载流子对钴掺杂氧化锌薄膜铁磁性的双重调控

本文提出了一种利用表面活性剂钝化和电子载流子掺杂来调制钴掺杂氧化锌稀磁半导体薄膜固有铁磁性的"双重操纵效应"新方法.第一性原理计算表明,氢表面钝化作为薄膜表面Co-O-Co磁耦合的磁开关,可以控制掺杂钴原子的自旋极化.同时,电子载流子掺杂可以进一步用作类层状铁磁性媒介来调节薄膜内部原子层的铁磁性.该双重操纵效应揭示了n型钴掺杂氧化锌稀磁半导体薄膜的本质铁磁性来源,并且还有可能用作其他n型稀磁半导体氧化物薄膜增强铁磁性的替代策略.     

Ga vacancy induced ferromagnetism enhancement and electronic structures of RE-doped GaN

Because of their possible applications in spintronic and optoelectronic devices, GaN dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) doped by rare-earth (RE) elements have attracted much attention since the high Curie temperature was obtained in RE-doped GaN DMSs and a colossal magnetic moment was observed in the Gd-doped GaN thin film. We have systemically studied the GaN DMSs doped by RE elements (La, Ce–Yb) using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method within the framework of density functional theory and adding the considerations of the electronic correlation and the spin-orbital coupling effects. We have studied the electronic structures of DMSs, especially for the contribution from f electrons. The origin of magnetism, magnetic interaction and the possible mechanism of the colossal magnetic moment were explored. We found that, for materials containing f electrons, electronic correlation was usually strong and the spin–orbital coupling was sometimes crucial in determining the magnetic ground state. It was found that GaN doped by La was non-magnetic. GaN doped by Ce, Nd, Pm, Eu, Gd, Tb and Tm are stabilized at antiferromagnetic phase, while GaN doped by other RE elements show strong ferromagnetism which is suitable materials for spintronic devices. Moreover, we have identified that the observed large enhancement of magnetic moment in GaN is mainly caused by Ga vacancies (3.0μB per Ga vacancy), instead of the spin polarization by magnetic ions or originating from N vacancies. Various defects, such as substitutional Mg for Ga, O for N under the RE doping were found to bring a reduction of ferromagnetism. In addition, intermediate bands were observed in some systems of GaN:RE and GaN with intrinsic defects, which possibly opens the potential application of RE-doped semiconductors in the third generation high efficiency photovoltaic devices.     

ODMR Study of Zn1−x Mn x Se/Zn1−y Be y Se and (Cd1−x ,Mn)Te/Cd1−y Mg y Te Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Quantum Wells

The effects of microwave pumping with a frequency of 60 GHz on the magneto-optical properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) are studied in (Zn,Mn)Se/(Zn,Be)Se and (Cd,Mn)Te/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells. Resonant heating of the Mn²⁺ ions in the electron spin resonance conditions leads to an increase in the Mn-spin temperature, which exceeds the bath temperature by up to 5.2 K, as detected by the shift of exciton emission line and decrease of its integral intensity. Nonresonant heating mediated by free carriers is also observed through variation of the polarization degree of emission. Direct measurements of spin–lattice relaxation times for both materials using time-resolved optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique have been performed. The mechanisms of ODMR in nanostructures of DMSs are discussed.     

Nuclear spin manipulation in interfaces of diluted magnetic semiconductors

Nuclear spin manipulation using an interface of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) is proposed. On the basis of the first-principles electronic structure calculation, we show that the hyperfine fields at an impurity site in the interface between a DMS and a base substance is dramatically changed by an external electric field. The electric field dependence of the hyperfine fields at the impurity nucleus in the interface of (InMn)As and (GaMn)As is examined.     

On the understanding of the microscopic origin of the properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors by atom probe tomography

Spintronics, in which both the spin and charge of electrons are used for logic and memory operations, promises to revolutionize the current information technology. Just as silicon supports microelectronics, diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) will be the platform of spintronics. Ideal DMSs should maintain ferromagnetic and semiconducting properties at operating temperatures to realize the spintronic functions. Although many high-temperature Curie temperature DMSs have been reported, the origin of ferromagnetism remains controversial. Currently, this is a major obstacle to the development of spintronic devices. The solution to this problem depends on a more complete understanding of DMS microstructure, especially the distribution of doped magnetic ions at atomic resolution and any defects introduced. Therefore, an analysis technique is required, possessing both high spatial and elemental resolutions, which is beyond the capability of conventional techniques, such as electron microscopy. However, atom probe tomography (APT), which recently has been successfully applied to nanoscale characterization of structural materials, has the potential to provide the unique combination of near atomic spatial and elemental resolutions needed for such an investigation.     

不同价态Mn掺杂InN电子结构、磁学和光学性质的第一性原理研究

采用密度泛函理论体系下的广义梯度近似GGA+U平面波超软赝势方法,在构建了纤锌矿结构的InN超胞及三种不同有序占位Mn~(2+),Mn~(3+)价态分别掺杂InN超胞模型,并进行几何优化的基础上,计算了掺杂前后体系的电子结构、能量以及光学性质.计算结果表明:Mn掺杂后体系总能量和形成能降低,稳定性增加,并在费米能级附近引入自旋极化杂质带,体系具有明显的自旋极化现象.掺杂不同价态的Mn元素对体系电子结构和磁学性质产生了不同的影响.电子结构和磁性分析表明掺杂体系的磁性来源于p-d交换机制和双交换机制的共同作用,Mn~(3+)价态掺杂有利于掺杂体系的居里温度达到室温以上.与未掺杂InN相比,不同价态Mn元素掺杂后体系的静态介电函数显著增大,掺杂体系介电函数虚部和吸收光谱在低能区域出现了较强的新峰,分析认为这些新峰主要来自与费米能级附近自旋极化杂质带相关的跃迁.     

Electronic Structure And Magnetism of Novel Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors CdGeP 2 : Mn and ZnGeP 2 : Mn

Chalcopyrite II-IV-V 2 semiconductors CdGeP 2 : Mn and ZnGeP 2 : Mn are new types of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs). Since their ferromagnetic Curie temperatures are much higher than room temperature, these DMSs are good candidates for materials to be used in spintronics devices. Their electronic and magnetic structures have been investigated using the first-principles calculations based on the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent-potential-approximation and local-density-approximation (KKR-CPA-LDA) methods. When Cd or Zn atoms are substituted by Mn atoms, the ground state magnetic structure is spinglass-like. On the other hand, if Mn atoms substitute Ge atoms, the system becomes ferromagnetic through the double-exchange mechanism. However, the calculation of the formation energies shows that this system is not energetically favorable. Instead, the system with vacancies (Cd, Vc, Mn)GeP 2 or a non-stoichiometric (Cd, Ge, Mn)GeP 2 are also ferromagnetic and, moreover, energetically stable. We conclude that either of these variants possess a ferromagnetic phase of the kind CdGeP 2 : Mn. Similar conclusions are obtained for ZnGeP 2 : Mn.     

Polarization selective magneto-optical study on the coupled quantum dots using resonant excitation

We have studied a double-layer self-assembled quantum dot (QD) structures consisting of non-magnetic CdSe and magnetic CdMnSe. Transmission electron microscopy image shows that QDs are formed within the CdSe and CdMnSe layers, and they are vertically correlated in the system. The strong interband ground state transition was observed in magneto-photoluminescence (PL) experiments. In contrast to a typical behavior for many low-dimensional systems involving diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), where PL signal dramatically increases when an external magnetic field is applied, we have observed a significant decrease of the PL intensity as a function of magnetic field in the double-layer structures where the alternating QD layers contain the DMS and non-DMS QDs. We attribute such effect to carrier transfer from non-magnetic CdSe dots to magnetic CdMnSe dots due to the large Zeeman shift of the band edges of DMS QDs in magnetic field. Since the band alignment of QD structure strongly depends on the spin states of system, we performed polarization-selective PL measurement to identify spin-dependent carrier tunneling in this coupled system.     

Ab initio study of electronic structures and magnetism in ZnMnTe and CdMnTe diluted magnetic semiconductors

In this work, we aimed to examine the spin-polarized electronic band structures, the local densities of states as well as the magnetism of ZnMnTe- and CdMnTe-diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) in the ferromagnetic phase, and with 25% of Mn. The calculations are performed by the recent ab initio full potential augmented plane waves plus local orbitals (FP−L/APW+lo) method within the spin-polarized density-functional theory and the local spin density approximation. We have determined the exchange splittings produced by the Mn d states: Δ_x(d) and Δ_x(pd), and we found that the effective potential for the minority spin is more attractive than that for the majority spin. Also, we show the nature of the bonding from the charge spin-densities calculations, and we calculate the exchange constants N₀α and N₀β, which mimics a typical magneto-optical experiment. The calculated total magnetic moment is found to be equal to 5μ_B for both DMSs. This value indicates that every Mn impurity adds no hole carriers to the perfect ZnTe and CdTe crystals. Furthermore, we found that p–d hybridization reduces the local magnetic moment of Mn and produces small local magnetic moments on the nonmagnetic Te, Zn and Cd sites.     

Magnetic Impurity Band and Photoinduced Magnetic Phase Transition in Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors

Applying the dynamical coherent potential approximation (dynamical CPA) to a model of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), in which both random impurity distribution and thermal fluctuation of localized spins are taken into account, the spin-polarized band and the carrier spin polarization are calculated for various magnetizations. In order to clarify the role of impurity depth on the occurrence of ferromagnetism, three typical cases are investigated: (a) II-VI DMS, (b) deep impurity level, and (c) strong exchange interaction. The present study reveals that the impurity depth of magnetic ions strongly enhances the carrier spin polarization (CSP) and accordingly, leads to a high Curie temperature. This means that photoinduced ferromagnetism with high Curie temperature can be expected in a DMS with a deep impurity depth and strong exchange interaction.