Ferromagnetic phenomenon revealed in the chalcopyrite semiconductor CdGeP2:Mn

Abstract

High concentration of Mn atoms has been successfully incorporated into the chalcopyrite type II–IV–V2 semiconductor CdGeP2 by solid-state reaction technique without causing any structural changes. Polycrystalline powder of the chalcopyrite-related material in Cd–Mn–Ge–P quaternary system has been additionally synthesized by sintering technology. Well-defined M–H hysteresis loops were observed at room temperature in CdGeP2:Mn single crystal and polycrystalline powder samples grown independently. The Curie temperature has been determined to be 320 K for single crystal phase CdxMn1−xGeP2 and 310 K for the polycrystalline powder. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) observation clearly showed a stripe domain pattern on the Mn-diffused surface of CdGeP2 single crystal. The magneto-optical Kerr ellipticity spectrum of CdGeP2:Mn crystal showed a peak around 1.75 eV at T=300 K.