Li(Zn,Mn)As as a new generation ferromagnet based on a I-II-V semiconductor

Z. Deng, C. Q. Jin, Q. Q. Liu, X. C. Wang, J. L. Zhu, S. M. Feng, L. C. Chen, R. C. Yu, C. Arguello, T. Goko, Fanlong Ning, Jinsong Zhang, Yayu Wang, A. A. Aczel, T. Munsie, T. J. Williams, G. M. Luke, T. Kakeshita, S. Uchida, W. HigemotoT. U. Ito, Bo Gu, S. Maekawa, G. D. Morris, Y. J. Uemura

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

174 Scopus citations

Abstract

In a prototypical ferromagnet (Ga,Mn)As based on a III-V semiconductor, substitution of divalent Mn atoms into trivalent Ga sites leads to severely limited chemical solubility and metastable specimens available only as thin films. The doping of hole carriers via (Ga,Mn) substitution also prohibits electron doping. To overcome these difficulties, Masek et al. theoretically proposed systems based on a I-II-V semiconductor LiZnAs, where isovalent (Zn,Mn) substitution is decoupled from carrier doping with excess/deficient Li concentrations. Here we show successful synthesis of Li 1+y (Zn 1ĝ̂'x Mn x)As in bulk materials. Ferromagnetism with a critical temperature of up to 50K is observed in nominally Li-excess (y=0.05-0.2) compounds with Mn concentrations of x=0.02-0.15, which have p-type metallic carriers. This is presumably due to excess Li in substitutional Zn sites. Semiconducting LiZnAs, ferromagnetic Li(Zn,Mn)As, antiferromagnetic LiMnAs, and superconducting LiFeAs systems share square lattice As layers, which may enable development of novel junction devices in the future.

Original languageEnglish
Article number422
JournalNature Communications
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation0806846

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