Abstract

Ferromagnetic FexGe1−x with x = 2%–9% are obtained by Fe deposition onto Ge(001) at high temperatures (500 °C). Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) investigation evidenced the preservation of the (1 × 1) surface structure of Ge(001) with Fe deposition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at Ge 3d and Fe 2p core levels evidenced strong Fe diffusion into the Ge substrate and formation of Ge-rich compounds, from FeGe3 to approximately FeGe2, depending on the amount of Fe deposited. Room temperature magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) evidenced ferromagnetic ordering at room temperature, with about 0.1 Bohr magnetons per Fe atom, and also a clear uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with the in-plane [110] easy magnetization axis. This compound is a good candidate for promising applications in the field of semiconductor spintronics.

Highlights

  • Many efforts are concentrated nowadays on systems associating magnetic metals with semiconductors

  • The experiments are performed in a surface science complex setup (Specs) composed by a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and a photoelectron spectroscopy chamber

  • This paper presented the first evidence of a long range ordered interface

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Summary

Introduction

Many efforts are concentrated nowadays on systems associating magnetic metals with semiconductors. Materials 2013, 6 the other hand, diluted magnetic semiconductors where ferromagnetic ordering is intermediated by indirect exchange represent an exciting field in view of their possibilities of controlling ferromagnetism via external parameters, such as optically [2,3] or chemically Summarizing all this consistent work, efforts are dedicated nowadays to synthesize ferromagnetic metals deposited on semiconductors with intermixing and interface reaction as reduced as possible [1,4,5,6,7,8,9]; eventually, if the investigated system is proven to intermix despite efforts such as the use of passivating layers [4,5]. These layers are analyzed in situ by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), together with ex situ magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) analyses

Experimental
Low Energy Electron Diffraction
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect
Conclusions

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