Drastic improvement of Curie temperature by chemical pressure in N-type diluted magnetic semiconductor Ba(Zn,Co)_{2}As_{2}

Licheng Fu,Fanlong Ning,Lingfeng Xie,Jinou Dong,Xueqin Zhao,Rufei Zhang,Guoxiang Zhi,Haojie Zhang,Yilun Gu

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-86205-2

Abstract

We report the effect of chemical pressure on the ferromagnetic ordering of the recently reported n-type diluted magnetic semiconductor Ba(Zn_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2} which has a maximum T_Csim 45 K. Doping Sb into As-site and Sr into Ba-site induces negative and positive chemical pressure, respectively. While conserving the tetragonal crystal structure and n-type carriers, the unit cell volume shrink by sim 0.3% with 15% Sr doping, but drastically increase the ferromagnetic transition temperature by 18% to 53 K. Our experiment unequivocally demonstrate that the parameters of Zn(Co)As_{4} tetrahedra play a vital role in the formation of ferromagnetic ordering in the Ba(Zn,Co)_{2}As_{2} DMS.

Highlights

We report the effect of chemical pressure on the ferromagnetic ordering of the recently reported n-type diluted magnetic semiconductor Ba(Zn1−xCox)2As2 which has a maximum TC ∼ 45 K
Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) that combine the properties of semiconductors and ferromagnets are promising materials for spintronic devices owing to the possible manipulation of both spin and charge degrees of freedom[1,2,3,4]
High temperature ferromagnetism with n-type carriers has been reported in Fe-doped (In,Fe)As and (In,Fe)Sb films, the Fe atoms play the role of local magnetic moments, while free carriers are induced separately by codoped nonmagnetic donors/acceptors or native d efects[11,12,13]

Summary

Introduction

We report the effect of chemical pressure on the ferromagnetic ordering of the recently reported n-type diluted magnetic semiconductor Ba(Zn1−xCox)2As2 which has a maximum TC ∼ 45 K. Some new series of bulk form DMSs, that are iso-structure to the iron-based superconductors were reported. Such as 111-type Li(Zn,Mn)As14, Li(Zn,Mn)P15, 1111-type (La,Ba)(Zn,Mn)AsO16 and 122-type (Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)2As217,18, which are iso-structure to the iron-based superconductors L iFeAs19, LaFeAsO1−δ20 and (Ba,K)Fe2As221, respectively. In these new materials, spins and carriers are introduced at different ionic sites, which makes it possible to manipulate them separately, and investigate their unique contributions to the ferromagnetic ordering. For the purpose of improving TC , both physical pressure and chemical pressure effects on (Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)2As2 have been s tudied[25,26,27]

Methods

Results

Conclusion