Correlation between morphology, chemical environment, and ferromagnetism in the intrinsic-vacancy dilute magnetic semiconductor Cr-doped Ga2Se3/Si(001).

Chromium-doped gallium sesquiselenide, Cr:Ga2Se3, is a member of a new class of dilute magnetic semiconductors exploiting intrinsic vacancies in the host material. The correlation among room-temperature ferromagnetism, surface morphology, electronic structure, chromium concentration, and local chemical and structural environments in Cr:Ga2Se3 films grown epitaxially on silicon is investigated with magnetometry, scanning tunneling microscopy, photoemission spectroscopy, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Inclusion of a few percent chromium in Ga2Se3 results in laminar, semiconducting films that are ferromagnetic at room temperature with a magnetic moment ⩾4μB/Cr. The intrinsic-vacancy structure of defected-zinc-blende β-Ga2Se3 enables Cr incorporation in a locally octahedral site without disrupting long-range order, determined by x-ray absorption spectroscopy, as well as strong overlap between Cr 3d states and the Se 4p states lining the intrinsic-vacancy rows, observed with photoemission. The highest magnetic moment per Cr is observed near the solubility limit of roughly one Cr per three vacancies. At higher Cr concentrations, islanded, metallic films result, with a magnetic moment that depends strongly on surface morphology. The effective valence is Cr3+ in laminar films, with introduction of Cr0 upon islanding. A mechanism is proposed for laminar films whereby ordered intrinsic vacancies mediate ferromagnetism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]