New Fluoride-arsenide Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor (Ba,K)F(Zn,Mn)As with Independent Spin and Charge Doping

Bijuan Chen,Qingqing Liu,Wenmin Li,Zheng Deng,Fanlong Ning,Liu Lian,Zurab Guguchia,Zhi Li,Shengli Guo,Yipeng Cai,Cui Ding,Timothy Munsie ,M N Wilson ,Y J Uemura ,Benjamin A Frandsen ,Feng‐Xia Hu ,Sky C Cheung ,G M Luke ,Bowen Shen ,Suguru Yonezawa ,Meiying Gao ,Cong Gu ,Chong Jin

doi:10.1038/srep36578

Abstract

We report the discovery of a new fluoride-arsenide bulk diluted magnetic semiconductor (Ba,K)F(Zn,Mn)As with the tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure which is identical to that of the “1111” iron-based superconductors. The joint hole doping via (Ba,K) substitution & spin doping via (Zn,Mn) substitution results in ferromagnetic order with Curie temperature up to 30 K and demonstrates that the ferromagnetic interactions between the localized spins are mediated by the carriers. Muon spin relaxation measurements confirm the intrinsic nature of the long range magnetic order in the entire volume in the ferromagnetic phase. This is the first time that a diluted magnetic semiconductor with decoupled spin and charge doping is achieved in a fluoride compound. Comparing to the isostructure oxide counterpart of LaOZnSb, the fluoride DMS (Ba,K)F(Zn,Mn)As shows much improved semiconductive behavior that would be benefit for further application developments.

Highlights

Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) are semiconductors where a small part of the component ions are substituted by magnetic ions, leading to a variety of cooperative effects and exhibiting outstanding properties and functionalities[1,2,3,4,5,6]
We report a new fluoride-arsenide ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ba,K)F(Zn,Mn)As, which shares the same structure as that of “1111” iron-based superconductor Sr1−xSmxFFeAs25 and Ba1−xSmxFFeAs26
It is found that the majority of peaks in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern can be well indexed to main phase, except for some tiny peaks from the nonmagnetic impurity phase of BaF2

Summary

Introduction

Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) are semiconductors where a small part of the component ions are substituted by magnetic ions, leading to a variety of cooperative effects and exhibiting outstanding properties and functionalities[1,2,3,4,5,6]. A new type of DMS Li(Zn,Mn)As was reported to be a bulk DMS material with a ferromagnetic Curie temperature (TC) up to 50 K15. In this material, spins are doped via isovalent (Zn2+, Mn2+) substitution, while charges are provided by off-stoichiometry of the Li concentrations. Spins are doped via isovalent (Zn2+, Mn2+) substitution, while charges are provided by off-stoichiometry of the Li concentrations After, another new type of bulk ferromagnetic DMS (Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)2As2 was synthesized with much higher TC up to 230 K16,17. We report a new fluoride-arsenide ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ba,K)F(Zn,Mn)As, which shares the same structure as that of “1111” iron-based superconductor Sr1−xSmxFFeAs25 and Ba1−xSmxFFeAs26 (the tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure). DMS achieved in fluoride compound seem to provide materials with several useful properties and promote the development of new materials for modern applications

Methods

Results

Conclusion