Abstract
X-ray absorption spectroscopy of epitaxial GeMn thin films reveals an experimentally indistinguishable electronic configuration of Mn atoms incorporated in Ge1−xMnx nanoclusters and in precipitates of the intermetallic compound Mn5Ge3, respectively. However, the average magnetic response of thin films containing Ge1−xMnx nanoclusters is lower than the response of films containing Mn5Ge3 precipitates. This reduced magnetic response of Ge1−xMnx nanoclusters is explained in terms of a fraction of Mn atoms being magnetically inactive due to antiferromagnetic coupling or the presence of structural disorder. A determination of the role of magnetically inactive Mn atoms in the self-assembly of the thermodynamically metastable Ge1−xMnx nanoclusters seems to be an essential ingredient for an enhanced control of this promising high Curie temperature magnetic semiconductor.
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