(Ca,K)(Zn,Mn)₂As₂: Ferromagnetic semiconductor induced by decoupled charge and spin doping in CaZn₂As₂

Abstract

Abstract We have successfully synthesized a novel diluted magnetic semiconductor (Ca 1−2 x K 2 x )(Zn 1− x Mn x ) 2 As 2 with decoupled charge and spin doping. The substitutions of (Ca 2+ , K + ) and (Zn 2+ , Mn 2+ ) in the parent compound CaZn 2 As 2 (space group P m 1 (No. 164)) introduce carriers and magnetic moments, respectively. Doping only Mn into CaZn 2 As 2 does not induce any type of long range magnetic ordering. The ferromagnetic ordering arise can only when K + and Mn 2+ are simultaneously doped. The resulted maximum Curie temperature reaches ~7 K, and the corresponding coercive field is ~60 Oe. The transport measurements confirm that samples with K and Mn co-doping still behave like a semiconductor.