MBE-Grown Fe Magnetic Quantum Dots in ZnS Matrix

Abstract

A multilayer magnetic quantum dot sample containing 5 layers of Fe quantum dots (QDs) embedded in six layers of ZnS spacer was grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations reveal that the Fe QDs are single crystalline with spherical shape of diameters around 3 to 4 nm and area density of 1.5times10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> . Its zero-field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) curves measured at low field (100 Oe) show the magnetic relaxation effect with a blocking temperature around 26 K. The hysteresis loop measured at 5 K shows a coercivity of 83 Oe, confirming the slow relaxation process and coercivity enhancement attributed to the nanoparticle nature of the sample