Mn-doped Ge Research Articles

MBE growth of highly sensitive silicon PIN diode with magnetic Mn-doped Ge quantum dots for photodetector and solar cell applications

MBE growth of highly sensitive silicon PIN diode with magnetic Mn-doped Ge quantum dots for photodetector and solar cell applications

Magnetic properties of Mn doped crystalline and amorphous Ge thin films grown on Si (111)

Magnetic properties of Mn doped crystalline and amorphous Ge thin films grown on Si (111)

Ultra-fast annealing manipulated spinodal nano-decomposition in Mn-implanted Ge

In the present work, millisecond-range flash lamp annealing is used to recrystallize Mn-implanted Ge. Through systematic investigations of structural and magnetic properties, we find that the flash lamp annealing produces a phase mixture consisting of spinodally decomposed Mn-rich ferromagnetic clusters within a paramagnetic-like matrix with randomly distributed Mn atoms. Increasing the annealing energy density from 46, via 50, to 56 J cm−2 causes the segregation of Mn atoms into clusters, as proven by transmission electron microscopy analysis and quantitatively confirmed by magnetization measurements. According to x-ray absorption spectroscopy, the dilute Mn ions within Ge are in d5 electronic configuration. This Mn-doped Ge shows paramagnetism, as evidenced by the unsaturated magnetic-field-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism signal. Our study reveals how spinodal decomposition occurs and influences the formation of ferromagnetic Mn-rich Ge–Mn nanoclusters.

Carrier effects on ferromagnetism of MnxGe1−x quantum dots

Mn-doped Ge quantum dots (QDs) were grown on Si (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. At the same time, modulation doping of boron (B) with different concentrations at 10 nm beneath the QD layers is utilized to modulate the concentration of holes in the QDs. For Mn uni-doped and B uni-modulation-doped Ge QD samples, no credible ferromagnetic signals in the hysteresis loop were observed, while a significant ferromagnetic signal was observed for the Mn-doped Ge QD samples with a high modulation doping of B. Both the magnetic moment and the Curie temperature of the Mn-doped Ge QD samples increase with the modulation doping concentration of B. The increase in the Curie temperature is believed to associate with the exotic holes in the QDs from B dopants, which enhanced coupling between the holes and the localized Mn dopants in the QDs. Those results show a way to enhance the ferromagnetic properties of Mn-doped Ge QDs and provide more evidence to the carrier-mediated ferromagnetism model.

Mn-doped Ge self-assembled quantum dots via dewetting of thin films

In this study, we demonstrate an original elaboration route for producing a Mn-doped Ge self-assembled quantum dots on SiO2 thin layer for MOS structure. These magnetic quantum dots are elaborated using dewetting phenomenon at solid state by Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) annealing at high temperature of an amorphous Ge:Mn (Mn: 40%) nanolayer deposed at very low temperature by high-precision Solid Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy on SiO2 thin film. The size of quantum dots is controlled with nanometer scale precision by varying the nominal thickness of amorphous film initially deposed. The magnetic properties of the quantum-dots layer have been investigated by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to examine the nanostructure of these materials. Obtained results indicate that GeMn QDs are crystalline, monodisperse and exhibit a ferromagnetic behavior with a Curie temperature (TC) above room temperature. They could be integrated into spintronic technology.

Research Update: Strain and composition effects on ferromagnetism of Mn0.05Ge0.95 quantum dots

Mn0.05Ge0.95 quantum dots (QDs) samples were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si substrates and 15-nm-thick fully strained Si0.8Ge0.2 virtual substrates, respectively. The QDs samples grown on the Si0.8Ge0.2 virtual substrates show a significant ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature of 227 K, while the QDs samples grown on the Si substrates are non-ferromagnetic. Microstructures of the QDs samples were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction. Interdependence between microstructure and ferromagnetism of Mn-doped Ge QDs was investigated. For the QDs sample grown on the strained Si0.8Ge0.2 virtual substrate, although the ferromagnetic phase Mn5Ge3 clusters were found to be formed in small dome-shaped dots, the significant ferromagnetism observed in that sample is attributed to ferromagnetic phase Mn-doped large dome-shaped Ge QDs, rather than to the ferromagnetic phase Mn5Ge3 clusters. The fully strained Si0.8Ge0.2 virtual substrates would result in a residual strain into the QDs and an increase in Ge composition in the QDs. Both consequences favor the formations of ferromagnetic phase Mn-doped Ge QDs from points of view of quantum confinement effect as well as Mn doping at substitutional sites.

Quest for high-Curie temperature MnxGe1−x diluted magnetic semiconductors for room-temperature spintronics applications

In this paper, we report the non-equilibrium growth of various Mn-doped Ge dilute magnetic semiconductor nanostructures using molecular-beam epitaxy, including quantum dots, nanodisks and nanowires. Their detailed structural and magnetic properties are characterized. By comparing the results with those in MnxGe1−x thin films, it is affirmed that the use of nanostructures helps eliminate crystalline defects and meanwhile enhance the carrier-mediate ferromagnetism from substantial quantum confinements. Our systematic studies provide a promising platform to build nonvolatile spinFET and other novel spintronic devices based upon dilute magnetic semiconductor nanostructures.

<i>Ab Initio</i> Study of Electronic Structure under Hydrostatic Pressure in Ferromagnetic Mn<sub>x</sub>Ge<sub>1-x</sub> Alloy

In the fields of spintronics, extensive experiments and theoretical studies have been performed to discover materials that are ferromagnetic at room temperature. Many materials have attracted a great interest due to their potential applications in this area and their new physical properties. Our aim in this work is to study the electronic structure of Mn-doped Ge under pressure effect. We used the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus the local orbitals method based on the density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation as parameterized by Perdew. Our calculations were ported on a 2x2x2 Germanium supercell where Ge atom in position (0, 0, 0) was substituted by Mn atom. The theoretical equilibrium lattice parameters are determined. The electronic band structures calculated at equilibrium show the half metallic character of MnxGe1-x. The totat density of states demonstrate the half metallicity under pressure of MnxGe1-x. In addition, the magnetic moment of the super-cell increases under pressure while the magnetic moment of Mn decreases with pressure increasing which is consistent with the available data.Keywords: spintronic, ferromagnetic, hydrostatic pressure, electronic properties, DFT.

Investigations of segregation phenomena in highly strained Mn-doped Ge wetting layers and Ge quantum dots embedded in silicon

In this Letter, we investigate manganese diffusion and the formation of Mn precipitates in highly strained, few monolayer thick, Mn-doped Ge wetting layers and nanometric size Ge quantum dot heterostructures embedded in silicon. We show that in this Ge(Mn)/Si system manganese always precipitates and that the size and the position of Mn clusters (precipitates) depend on the growth temperature. At high growth temperature, manganese strongly diffuses from germanium to silicon, whereas decreasing the growth temperature reduces the manganese diffusion. In the germanium quantum dots layers, Mn precipitates are detected, not only in partially relaxed quantum dots but also in fully strained germanium wetting layers between the dots.

Addition of Mn to Ge quantum dot surfaces—interaction with the Ge QD {105} facet and the Ge(001) wetting layer

The interaction of Mn with Ge quantum dots (QD), which are bounded by {105} facets, and the strained Ge wetting layer (WL), terminated by a (001) surface, is investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). These surfaces constitute the growth surfaces in the growth of Mn-doped QDs. Mn is deposited on the Ge QD and WL surface in sub-monolayer concentrations, and subsequently annealed up to a temperature of 400 ° C. The changes in bonding and surface topography are measured with STM during the annealing process. Mn forms flat islands on the Ge{105} facet, whose shape and position are guided by the rebonded step reconstruction of the facet. Voltage-dependent STM images reflect the Mn-island interaction with the empty and filled states of the Ge{105} reconstruction. Scanning tunneling spectra (STS) of the Ge{105} facet and as-deposited Mn-islands show a bandgap of 0.8 eV, and the Mn-island spectra are characterized by an additional empty state at about 1.4 eV. A statistical analysis of Mn-island shape and position on the QD yields a slight preference for edge positions, whereas the QD strain field does not impact Mn-island position. However, the formation of ultra-small Mn-clusters dominates on the Ge(001) WL, which is in contrast to Mn interaction with unstrained Ge(001) surfaces. Annealing to T < 160 °C leaves the Mn-clusters on the WL unchanged, while the Mn-islands on the Ge{105} facet undergo first a ripening process, followed by a volume gain which can be attributed to the onset of intermixing with Ge. This development is supported by the statistical analysis of island volume, size and size distribution. Increasing the annealing temperature to 220° and finally 375 ° C leads to a rapid increase in the Mn-surface diffusion, as evidenced by the formation of larger, nanometer size clusters, which are identified as germanide Mn5Ge3 from a mass balance analysis. This reaction is accompanied by the disappearance of the original Mn-surface structures and de-wetting of Mn is complete. This study unravels the details of Mn–Ge interactions, and demonstrates the role of surface diffusion as a determinant in the growth of Mn-doped Ge materials. Surface doping of Ge-nanostructures at lower temperatures could provide a pathway to control magnetism in the Mn–Ge system.

Magnetic Properties of Crystalline and Amorphous Phase‐Change Materials Doped with 3d Impurities

First-principles study of the structural and magnetic properties of cubic and amorphous phase-change materials doped with 3d impurities. We find that Co- and Ni-doped Ge(2) Sb(2) Te(5) is non-magnetic, whereas Cr- and Mn-doped Ge(2) Sb(2) Te(5) is magnetic and exhibits a significant magnetic contrast between the two phases in the ferromagnetic configuration. These results are explained in terms of differences in local structure and hybridization of the impurity d-orbitals with the host states.

Growth and magnetic properties of Mn-doped germanium near the kinetic solubility limit

Growth of high-quality dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) material is often compromised by the low solubility of magnetic dopants, leading to formation of precipitates. Here, we explore the feasibility of growing precipitate-free Mn-doped Ge at doping levels near the kinetic solubility limit. Ge:Mn DMS films were grown at low temperature so as to minimize precipitate formation. Meanwhile, epitaxial quality was maintained by employing a very low growth rate. The magnetic properties of these lightly doped films exhibit both interesting contrasts and similarities with those of heavily doped DMS reported in the literature, indicating that the substitutional Mn contents are very similar. Films grown at $95{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$C are free of intermetallic precipitates, offering useful opportunities for studying the fundamentals of carrier-mediated exchange and metal-insulator transitions without complications arising from precipitate formation.

Synthesis and Magnetic Characterization of Coaxial Ge1–xMnx/a-Si Heterostructures

A method for synthesizing Ge1–xMnx/a-Si core–shell nanowires (x = 0.3(1)–1.0(2)) using a supercritical fluid deposition technique, with a homogeneous distribution of manganese along the entire lengths of the crystalline Ge cores but not in the a-Si shells, is reported. Investigations into the magnetic properties of the heterostructured nanowires revealed a significant influence of the amorphous Si shell covering the surface of the core Ge0.997Mn0.003 nanowires compared to pristine Ge0.997Mn0.003 nanowires with no a-Si coating. The magnetic data revealed diminished values of both the remanence and the saturation magnetization for pristine Mn-doped Ge nanowires at higher temperatures when compared to the Ge1–xMnx/a-Si core–shell nanowires, whereas both parameters increased as the temperature dropped down to 5 K. Differences in the temperature-dependent evolution of the coercivity were observed in the magnetically harder core–shell nanowires compared to the pristine Ge0.997Mn0.003 nanowires, showing a drop of 26% at 5 K vs room temperature compared to a drop of 66% for the pristine nanowires. The low dopant concentration (0.3(1)%) of Mn in the core–shell nanowires, combined with the observed ferromagnetic properties, suggests a combination of hole-mediated exchange and confinement processes are responsible for the observed properties. Our observations show the importance of a protective layer in covering the oxidation-sensitive dilute magnetic semiconductor nanowires.

Structural and magnetic properties of Ge1−xMnx thin films grown on Ge (001) substrates

We investigate the structural and magneto-optical properties of Mn-doped Ge (Ge1−xMnx) films with self-organized nanocolumns, grown on Ge (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), in which the substrate temperature (TS) and growth rate (RG) are varied. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) measurements reveal that Mn-rich nanocolumnar precipitation is formed in the Ge1−xMnx films grown at TS ≤ 100 °C, with keeping the size and spacing. At higher TS (≥150 °C), ferromagnetic Mn5Ge3 clusters are formed. It is also found that the Mn distribution in the Ge1−xMnx films can be controlled: By lowering TS or increasing RG, the Mn content xnc in the nanocolumns decreases and Mn atoms are more distributed into the Ge matrix, and eventually the magnetic properties are changed. The formation of the nanocolumns is explained by the spinodal decomposition in the layer-by-layer growth mode. We analyzed the periodicity and Mn content xnc of nanocolumns by using the Cahn-Hilliard equation.

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-implanted amorphous Ge

A $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{16}$ Mn${}^{+}$/cm${}^{2}$ 100 keV ion implantation at liquid-nitrogen temperature onto Ge(100) surfaces produces a perfect Mn dilution into a completely amorphized Ge layer (155 nm thickness and 4% average Mn concentration) as directly demonstrated by Mn $K$-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) investigations demonstrate that this diluted magnetic semiconductor system exhibits ferromagnetism up to room temperature. The magnetic response is explained within the model of percolation of bound polarons. Once the Mn fluence is doubled during the implantation, SQUID measurements clearly point to formation of Mn-Mn dimers and phase separation of Mn into Mn-rich amorphous clusters. First-principles calculations on Mn-doped amorphous Ge give a rationale to the experiments at the lowest fluence showing that disorder in the amorphous phase with the distortion of the Ge tetrahedra plays a crucial role, favoring the Mn substitutional inclusion and, correspondingly, enhancing the magnetic response of the system.

Coherent magnetic semiconductor nanodot arrays

In searching appropriate candidates of magnetic semiconductors compatible with mainstream Si technology for future spintronic devices, extensive attention has been focused on Mn-doped Ge magnetic semiconductors. Up to now, lack of reliable methods to obtain high-quality MnGe nanostructures with a desired shape and a good controllability has been a barrier to make these materials practically applicable for spintronic devices. Here, we report, for the first time, an innovative growth approach to produce self-assembled and coherent magnetic MnGe nanodot arrays with an excellent reproducibility. Magnetotransport experiments reveal that the nanodot arrays possess giant magneto-resistance associated with geometrical effects. The discovery of the MnGe nanodot arrays paves the way towards next-generation high-density magnetic memories and spintronic devices with low-power dissipation.

Mn-doped Ge and Si: A Review of the Experimental Status.

Diluted ferromagnetic semiconductors (FMS) are in the focus of intense research due to their potential applications in spintronics and their striking new physical properties. So far Mn-doped III-V compound semiconductors such as GaMnAs are the most important and best understood ones, but they are ferromagnetic only at well below room temperature. An interesting alternative could be magnetic semiconductors based on elemental semiconductors, also owing to their compatibility with Si microelectronics. In the last decades, considerable amount of work has been devoted to fabricate Mn-doped Ge and Si FMS. In this article, the structural, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of Mn-doped Ge and Si will be reviewed.

Diluted manganese on the bond-centered site in germanium

The functional properties of Mn-doped Ge depend to large extent on the lattice location of the Mn impurities. Here, we present a lattice location study of implanted diluted Mn by means of electron emission channeling. Surprisingly, in addition to the expected substitutional lattice position, a large fraction of the Mn impurities occupies the bond-centered site. Corroborated by ab initio calculations, the bond-centered Mn is related to Mn-vacancy complexes. These unexpected results call for a reassessment of the theoretical studies on the electrical and magnetic behavior of Mn-doped Ge, hereby including the possible role of Mn-vacancy complexes.

The importance of hole concentration in establishing carrier-mediated ferromagnetism in Mn doped Ge

In the present work, we have prepared Mn-doped Ge using different annealing approaches after Mn ion implantation, and obtained samples with hole concentrations ranging from 1018 to 2.1×1020 cm−3, the latter being the highest reported so far. Based on the magnetotransport properties of Mn doped Ge, we argue that the hole concentration is a decisive parameter in establishing carrier-mediated ferromagnetism in magnetic Ge.

Distribution of doped Mn at the Σ3 (1 1 2) grain boundary in Ge

Using first-principles density functional theory method, we have investigated the distribution and magnetism of doped Mn atoms in the vicinity of the Σ3 (1 1 2) grain boundary in Ge. We find that at low concentration, the substitutional sites are energetically favorable over the interstitial ones for Mn. The binding energy of Mn varies with lattice sites in the boundary region, and hence a non-uniform distribution of Mn nears the boundary. However, the average of their segregation energy is quite small, thus no remarkable grain boundary segregation of Mn is predicted. Due to volume expansion at the grain boundary, the spin polarization of Mn is slightly enhanced. Overall, we find that the magnetism of Mn-doped Ge is not sensitively dependent on the grain structure.