Static and Dynamic Spin Organization in Magnetic Semiconductor Nanostructures

Abstract

We describe experiments which study static and dynamic aspects of Mn spin organization in magnetic semiconductor superlattices and quantum wells. Neutron diffraction studies of ZnSe/MnSe and ZnTe/MnSe superlattices show how static Mn spin organization in these antiferromagnetic layers may be modified by strain and lowered dimensionality. We also use a novel form of femtosecond magnetic spectroscopy to examine magnetic polaron dynamics in diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum wells, and show how the organization of Mn spins by a spin-polarized carrier population may be directly viewed in the time domain.

Search for Dimensionality Crossover of Spin-Glass Freezing in Superlattices of Cd0.50Mn0.50Te/CdTe

“…Recent progress in fabrication techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) [2], has made it possible to investigate properties of the spin-glass phase of DMS in the form of very thin layers [3], thus enabling us to address the problem of the lower critical dimensionality for this system [4]. To face this problem we investigated low temperature properties of Cd0.50Mn0.50Τe layers with varying thicknesses: 5, 10, 15, and 20 monolayers (MLs).…”

Search for Dimensional Effects in Spin-Glass Transition in Thin Cd1-xMnxTe Multilayers

“…Recent progress in fabrication techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBΙ ), has made it possible to investigate the properties of the S-G state of DMS in the form of very thin layers (down to a few ML) [3]. Therefore, a possibility now exists to investigate experimentally whether or not the S-G state indeed vanishes when the thickness of the Mn-rich layers is lowered to its critical value.…”