Open AccessAmending the ferromagnetic properties of Ga0.94Mn0.06As films by He+ irradiation
Author(s) -
B.Z. Ding,
Fenghua Xiang,
Liming Wang,
Hongtao Wang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.61.046105
Subject(s) - materials science , curie temperature , irradiation , ferromagnetism , fluence , coercivity , condensed matter physics , magnetism , saturation (graph theory) , magnetic semiconductor , ion , magnetization , ferromagnetic material properties , semiconductor , optoelectronics , magnetic field , chemistry , physics , mathematics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , nuclear physics , organic chemistry
Ion irradiation of semiconductors is a well understood method to tune the carrier concentration in a controlled manner. We show that the ferromagnetism in Ga0.94Mn0.06As films, known to be hole-mediated, can be modified by He ion irradiation. The coercivity can be increased by more than three times. The magnetization, Curie temperature and the saturation field along the out-of-plane hard axis all decrease as the fluence increases. The electrical and structural characterization of the irradiated Ga0.94Mn0.06As layers indicates that the controlled amending of magnetism results from a compensation of holes by generated electrical defects and not from a structural modification.