(Ga,Fe)Sb: A p-type ferromagnetic semiconductor

Abstract

A p-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga1−x,Fex)Sb (x = 3.9%–13.7%) has been grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on GaAs(001) substrates. Reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns during the MBE growth and X-ray diffraction spectra indicate that (Ga,Fe)Sb layers have the zinc-blende crystal structure without any other crystallographic phase of precipitates. Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy characterizations indicate that (Ga,Fe)Sb has the zinc-blende band structure with spin-splitting induced by s,p-d exchange interactions. The magnetic field dependence of the MCD intensity and anomalous Hall resistance of (Ga,Fe)Sb show clear hysteresis, demonstrating the presence of ferromagnetic order. The Curie temperature (TC) increases with increasing x and reaches 140 K at x = 13.7%. The crystal structure analyses, magneto-transport, and magneto-optical properties indicate that (Ga,Fe)Sb is an intrinsic ferromagnetic semiconductor.