A pure spin-current injector of semiconductor quantum dots with Andreev reflection and Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We propose a four-terminal device consisting of two parallel quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI), coupled to two side superconductor leads and two common ferromagnetic leads, respectively. The two ferromagnetic leads and two quantum dots form a ring threaded by Aharonov-Bohm (AB) flux. This device possesses normal quasiparticle transmission between the two ferromagnetic leads, and normal and crossed Andreev reflections providing conductive holes. For the appropriate spin polarization of the ferromagnetic leads, RSOI and AB flux, the pure spin-up (or spin-down) current without net charge current in the right lead, which is due to the equal numbers of electrons and holes with the same spin-polarization moving along the same direction, can be obtained by adjusting the gate voltage, which may be used in practice as a pure spin-current injector.     

Ferromagnetic insulator effects in ferromagnetic semiconductor/ferromagnetic insulator/p-wave superconductor junctions

The effect of the ferromagnetic insulator on tunneling conductance in ferromagnetic semiconductor/ferromagnetic insulator/p-wave superconductor (FS/FI/P) junctions is studied based on a scattering theory. Three kinds of pairings for the P side are chosen: p_x, p_{y ,}p_x+ip_y waves. It is shown that the spin filtering effect originating from the exchange field in the FI strongly modifies the normalization conductance. Many novel features including the zero-bias conductance dip and splitting are exhibited for fixed spin polarization in the FS. The tunneling spectrum for the heavy holes is much different from that for the light holes due to the different mismatches in the effective mass and Fermi velocity between FS and P.     

First-principles study of ferromagnetism in Zn- and Cd-doped SnO2

The electronic structures and magnetic properties of Zn- and Cd-doped SnO₂ are investigated using first-principles calculations within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA+U scheme. The substitutional Zn and Cd atoms introduce holes in the 2p orbitals of the O atoms and the introduced holes are mostly confined to the minority-spin states. The magnetic moment induced by doping mainly comes from the 2p orbitals of the O atoms, among which the moment of the first neighboring O atoms around the dopant are the biggest. The U correction for the anion-2p states obviously increases the moment of the first neighboring O atoms and transforms the ground states of the doped SnO₂ from half-metallic to insulating. The magnetic coupling between the moments induced by two dopants is ferromagnetic and the origin of ferromagnetic coupling can be attributed to the p–d hybridization interaction involving holes.     

Investigation of the effects of spin injection of charge carriers from a ferromagnetic Ni(Co)/GaAs Schottky contact in quantum well heterostructures

The circularly polarized electroluminescence of quantum-confined InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with a ferromagnetic Ni(Co)/GaAs Schottky contact has been investigated. It is shown that the high degree of circular polarization (to 42%) is due to the injection of spin-polarized holes from the ferromagnetic metal. The dependence of the spin injection efficiency on the type of the metal/GaAs interface and the quantum well depth has been analyzed. The spin coherence length of holes was found to be ≈80 nm at 1.5 K.     

Ferromagnetic spin coupling of 2p impurities in band insulators stabilized by an intersite Coulomb interaction: nitrogen-doped MgO

For a nitrogen dimer in insulating MgO, a ferromagnetic coupling between spin-polarized 2p holes is revealed by calculations based on the density functional theory amended by an on-site Coulomb interaction and corroborated by the Hubbard model. It is shown that the ferromagnetic coupling is facilitated by a T-shaped orbital arrangement of the 2p holes, which is in its turn controlled by an intersite Coulomb interaction due to the directionality of the p orbitals. We thus conjecture that this interaction is an important ingredient of ferromagnetism in band insulators with 2p dopants.     

Ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot arrays embedded in semiconductors

We present an Anderson-type model Hamiltonian with exchange coupling between the localized spins and the confined holes in the quantum dots to study the ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) quantum dot arrays embedded in semiconductors. The hybridization between the quantum-confined holes in the quantum dots and the itinerant holes in the semiconductor valence band makes possible hole transfer between the DMS quantum dots, which can induce the long range ferromagnetic order of the localized spins. In addition, it makes the carrier spins both in the quantum dots and in the semiconductors polarized. The spontaneous magnetization of the localized spins and the spin polarization of the holes are calculated using both the Weiss mean field approximation and the self-consistent spin wave approximation, which are developed for the present model.Received: 17 Mars 2003, Published online: 30 January 2004PACS: 75.75. + a Magnetic properties of nanostructures - 75.30.Ds Spin waves - 75.50.Dd Nonmetallic ferromagnetic materials - 75.50.Pp Magnetic semiconductors     

Carrier spin polarization in ferromagnet-semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs structures

The effect of ferromagnetic layers on the spin polarization of holes and electrons in ferromagnet-semiconductor superlattices with a fixed Mn δ-layer thickness of 0.11 nm and different GaAs interlayer thicknesses varying in the range from 2.5 to 14.4 nm and a fixed number of periods (40) is studied by means of hot-electron photoluminescence (HPL). Here, our study of the HPL demonstrates that the holes in δ-layers of (Ga,Mn)As DMS occupy predominantly the Mn acceptor impurity band. The width of the impurity band decreases with the increase of the interlayer distance. We also found that an increase in the GaAs interlayer thickness softens the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic layers as well as reduces the carrier polarization. It is demonstrated that the hole spin polarization in the DMS layers and spin polarization of electrons in nonmagnetic GaAs are proportional to the sample magnetization.     

Temperature dependence of the circular polarization of electroluminescence from spin-polarized light-emitting diodes based on InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures

The temperature dependence of the circular polarization degree of the electroluminescence from light-emitting diodes based on InGaAs/GaAs-quantum-well (QW) heterostructures with a closely located ferromagnetic Mn δ layer is investigated. It is found that the Mn δ layer ferromagnetically affects holes in the QW. This effect is characterized by spin polarization of the holes and the appearance of circularly polarized emission components under electroluminescence conditions. It is demonstrated that the ferromagnetic properties of a δ layer can be studied by analyzing the QW luminescence. The Curie temperatures of the ferromagnetic system are determined using the results of investigations.     

一维铁磁/有机系统的基态与自旋分布研究

文中用一维紧束缚模型描述铁磁金属,用一维非简并的Su-Schrieffer -Heeger (SSH)模型描述共轭聚合物,研究了在一维铁磁/共轭聚合物系统和一维CMR材料/ 聚合物系统中的电子转移和自旋转移.发现在聚合物部分没有自旋的双极化子比有自旋的极化子具有较低的能量而容易产生.然而在铁磁CMR材料/聚合物系统中极化子的产生能低于聚合物中极化子的产生能,增加了有机物中自旋极化输运的可能性.     

Stabilization of ferromagnetism in Mn doped ZnO with C co-doping

We present a method for stabilizing ferromagnetism in Mn doped ZnO. We find that Mn doped ZnO show anti-ferromagnetic order in the absence of additional carriers. When Mn doped ZnO is co-doped with C atom at O sites ferromagnetic state gets stabilized. The C doping creates holes which leads to stabilization of ferromagnetic state via hole mediated double exchange mechanism.     

On the theory of ferromagnetism in transition metals with cubic symmetry

The idea of strong interaction within the same unit cell is used to establish the possibility of the existence of ferromagnetic instability in a system with jumps between cations of transition elements. The phase diagram of the existence of the ferromagnetic ordering as a function of the average number of holes (h _d ) in the 3d¹⁰ shell of transition elements is constructed.     

过渡金属Fe，Co，Ni居里点附近热电势的实验研究

测量了纯金属Fe，Co，Ni的热电势发现，在居里点附近热电势随温度的变化关系曲线均呈现先凹后凸的反常现象.由曲线的转折处可确定三个居里温度，即铁磁态居里点T_f，居里点T_C和顺磁居里点θ_p.由曲线可见，金属由铁磁态到顺磁态的相转变，存在一定温度间隔的转变过程，居里温度是这一过程的中间温度.分析曲线表明，温度在T_f与T_C范围有空穴参与导电，说明磁性负载者是d带中的空穴.对于温度在T_C与θ_p范围可能存在短程有序进行了讨论. 关键词： Fe Co Ni 热电势 居里温度     

The special features of the Hall effect in GaMnSb layers deposited from a laser plasma

Epitaxial GaMnSb films with Mn contents up to about 10 at. % were obtained by deposition from a laser plasma in vacuum. The growth temperature T _s during deposition was varied from 440 to 200°C, which changed the concentration of holes from 3 × 10¹⁹ to 5 × 10²⁰ cm^?3, respectively. Structure studies showed that, apart from Mn ions substituting Ga, the GaMnSb layers contained ferromagnetic clusters with Mn and shallow acceptor defects of the Ga_Sb type controlled by the T _s value. Unlike single-phase GaMnSb systems studied earlier with negative anomalous Hall effect values and Curie temperatures not exceeding 30 K, the films obtained in this work exhibited a positive anomalous Hall effect, whose hysteresis character manifested itself up to room temperature and was the more substantial the higher the concentration of holes. The unusual behavior of this effect was interpreted in terms of the interaction of charge carriers with ferromagnetic clusters, which was to a substantial extent determined by the presence of Schottky barriers at the boundary between the clusters and the semiconducting matrix; this interaction increased as the concentration of holes grew. The absence of this effect in semiconducting compounds based on III–V Group elements with MnSb or MnAs ferromagnetic clusters was discussed in the literature; we showed that this absence was most likely related to the low hole concentrations in these objects.     

Phase coherence of the electron and hole in a ferromagnetic film in proximity with a superconductor

The scattering matrix approach between the clean and dirty limits is developed for the study of tunneling spectra in a ferromagnetic film in proximity to a superconductor. The minigap and the damped oscillation from ``0" to ``π" state in tunneling conductance are attributed to the phase coherence of the electrons and the corresponding Andreev-reflected holes in the ferromagnetic film. The calculated results provide a reasonable explanation for the behavior observed in recent experiments.     

Size-dependent spintronic properties of dilute magnetic semiconductor nanocrystals

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of Mn-doped Ge, GaAs, and ZnSe nanocrystals are investigated using real space ab initio pseudopotentials constructed within the local spin-density approximation. The ferromagnetic and half-metallicity trends found in the bulk are preserved in the nanocrystals. However, the Mn-related impurity states become much deeper in energy with decreasing nanocrystalline size, causing the ferromagnetic stabilization to be dominated by double exchange via localized holes rather than by a Zener-like mechanism.     

Spin dependent Andreev reflection in ferromagnetic semiconductor/d-wave superconductor ballistic junction

The Andreev reflection (AR) probability and transmission of quasiparticles in ferromagnetic semiconductor/d-wave superconductor (FS/DS) ballistic junctions are studied based on an extended Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk (BTK) theory. It is shown that the dependence of AR probability and pair potential on the spin orientation of incident quasiparticles for the heavy holes is much different from that for light holes due to the different mismatches in the effective mass and Fermi velocity between FS and DS. The junction conductance is dominated by the quasiparticles which undergo AR processes with the largest probability, and this provides a method for measuring the spin polarization in FS.     

Confinement effect on hole polarization in (Ga,Mn)As/AlAs diluted magnetic semiconductor multiple quantum wells

Physics of the Solid State - The influence of quantum confinement on the spin polarization of holes in ferromagnetic multiple quantum wells based on (Ga,Mn)As diluted magnetic semiconductor has...     

Electronic structure and magnetic properties of the N monodoping and (Li, N)-codoped ZnO

Using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we investigated systematically the electronic structures and magnetic properties of N monodoping and (Li, N) codoping in ZnO. The results indicate that monodoping of N in ZnO favors a spin-polarized state with a magnetic moment of 0.95 μ_B per supercell and the magnetic moment mainly comes from the unpaired 2p electrons of N and O atoms. In addition, it was found that monodoping of N in ZnO is a weak ferromagnet and it is the spin-polarized O atoms that mediate the ferromagnetic exchange interaction between the two N atoms. Interestingly, by Li substitutional doping at the cation site (Li_Zn), the ferromagnetic stability can be increased significantly and the formation energy can be evidently reduced for the defective system. Therefore, we think that the enhancement of ferromagnetic stability should be attributed to the accessorial holes and the lower formation energy induced by Li_Zn doping.     

Absence of saturated ferromagnetism in the two-dimensional Hubbard model with two holes for U=∞

For a square Hubbard lattice with infinite repulsion energy U the following exact result has been obtained: the ferromagnetic state with maximum spin is not the ground state of the system if the number of holes is equal to two. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 1000–1008 (March 1998)     

Self-compensation in manganese-doped ferromagnetic semiconductors

We present a theory of interstitial Mn in Mn-doped ferromagnetic semiconductors. Using density-functional theory, we show that under the nonequilibrium conditions of growth, interstitial Mn is easily formed near the surface by a simple low-energy adsorption pathway. In GaAs, isolated interstitial Mn is an electron donor, each compensating two substitutional Mn acceptors. Within an impurity-band model, partial compensation promotes ferromagnetic order below the metal-insulator transition, with the highest Curie temperature occurring for 0.5 holes per substitutional Mn.