Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Long-range p–d exchange interaction in a ferromagnet–semiconductor hybrid structure

Nature Physics volume 12, pages 85–91 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Hybrid structures synthesized from different materials have attracted considerable attention because they may allow not only combination of the functionalities of the individual constituents but also mutual control of their properties. To obtain such a control an interaction between the components needs to be established. For coupling the magnetic properties, an exchange interaction has to be implemented which typically depends on wavefunction overlap and is therefore short-ranged, so that it may be compromised across the hybrid interface. Here we study a hybrid structure consisting of a ferromagnetic Co layer and a semiconducting CdTe quantum well, separated by a thin (Cd, Mg)Te barrier. In contrast to the expected p–d exchange that decreases exponentially with the wavefunction overlap of quantum well holes and magnetic atoms, we find a long-ranged, robust coupling that does not vary with barrier width up to more than 30 nm. We suggest that the resulting spin polarization of acceptor-bound holes is induced by an effective p–d exchange that is mediated by elliptically polarized phonons.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Ferromagnet-induced proximity effect.
Figure 2: Time-resolved spin dynamics.
Figure 3: Ferromagnet-induced spin polarization of the QW heavy holes bound to acceptors.
Figure 4: Effective p–d exchange interaction between FM and QW heavy holes.
Figure 5: Illustration of circularly polarized phonon mode in the FM–QW hybrid structure.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kittel, C. Introduction to Solid State Physics 3rd edn (Wiley, 1967).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Furdyna, J. K. Diluted magnetic semiconductors. J. Appl. Phys. 64, R29–R64 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Dietl, T. A ten-year perspective on dilute magnetic semiconductors and oxides. Nature Mater. 9, 965–974 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Nagaev, E. L. Photoinduced magnetism and conduction electrons in magnetic semiconductors. Phys. Status Solidi B 145, 11–64 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Korenev, V. L. Electric control of magnetic moment in a ferromagnet/semiconductor hybrid system. JETP Lett. 78, 564–568 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Myers, R. C., Gossard, A. C. & Awschalom, D. D. Tunable spin polarization in III–V quantum wells with a ferromagnetic barrier. Phys. Rev. B 69, 161305(R) (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Zaitsev, S. V. et al. Ferromagnetic effect of a Mn delta layer in the GaAs barrier on the spin polarization of carriers in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well. JETP Lett. 90, 658–662 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pankov, M. A. et al. Ferromagnetic transition in GaAs/Mn/GaAs/InxGa1−xAs/GaAs structures with a two-dimensional hole gas. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 109, 293–301 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zakharchenya, B. P. & Korenev, V. L. Integrating magnetism into semiconductor electronics. Phys. Usp. 48, 603–608 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Korenev, V. L. et al. Dynamic spin polarization by orientation-dependent separation in a ferromagnet–semiconductor hybrid. Nature Commun. 3, 959 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Crowder, B. L. & Hammer, W. N. Shallow acceptor states in ZnTe and CdTe. Phys. Rev. 150, 541–549 (1966).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Baron, T., Saminadayar, K. & Magnea, N. Nitrogen doping of Te-based II–VI compounds during growth by molecular beam epitaxy. J. Appl. Phys. 83, 1354–1370 (1998).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Meier, F. & Zakharchenya, B. P. (eds) Optical Orientation (North-Holland, 1984).

  14. Debus, J. et al. Spin-flip Raman scattering of the neutral and charged excitons confined in a CdTe/(Cd, Mg)Te quantum well. Phys. Rev. B 87, 205316 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Dzhioev, R. I., Zakharchenya, B. P. & Korenev, V. L. Optical orientation study of thin ferromagnetic films in a ferromagnet/semiconductor structure. Phys. Solid State 37, 1929–1935 (1995).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Korenev, V. L. Optical orientation in ferromagnet/semiconductor hybrids. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 23, 114012 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Schaack, G. Observation of circularly polarized phonon states in an external magnetic field. J. Phys. C 9, L297–L301 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Tucker, J. W. & Rampton, V. W. Microwave Ultrasonics in Solid State Physics (North-Holland, 1972).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kittel, C. Interaction of spin waves and ultrasonic waves in ferromagnetic crystalls. Phys. Rev. 110, 836–841 (1958).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. Bombeck, M. et al. Magnetization precession induced by quasitransverse picosecond strain pulses in (311) ferromagnetic (Ga, Mn)As. Phys. Rev. B 87, 060302(R) (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Ivchenko, E. L. & Pikus, G. E. Superlattices and Other Heterostructures. Symmetry and Optical Phenomena Vol. 110 (Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences, Springer, 1995).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  22. Cohen-Tannoudji, C. & Dupont-Roc, J. Experimental study of Zeeman light shifts in weak magnetic fields. Phys. Rev. A 5, 968–984 (1972).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Sapega, V. F. et al. Resonant Raman scattering due to bound-carrier spin-flip in GaAs/AlxGa1−x As quantum wells. Phys. Rev. B 50, 2510–2519 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lampel, G. Nuclear dynamic polarization by optical electronic saturation and optical pumping in semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 20, 491–493 (1968).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kastler, A. Nobel Lecture Physics 1963–1970 186–204 (World Scientific, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank B. Glavin and A. Scherbakov for discussions. We acknowledge support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Russian Foundation for Basic Research in the frame of the ICRC TRR 160, the Government of Russia via project N14.Z50.31.0021, and the Program of Russian Academy of Sciences. V.L.K. acknowledges support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the Gerhard Mercator professorship programme. The work in Poland was partially supported by the Polish National Science Center under grant numbers DEC-2012/06/A/ST3/00247 and DEC-2014/14/M/ST3/00484. T.W. also acknowledges support from the Foundation for Polish Science through the International Outgoing Scholarship 2014.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194021 St Petersburg, Russia

    V. L. Korenev, I. A. Akimov, V. F. Sapega, I. V. Kalitukha, R. I. Dzhioev, D. R. Yakovlev, Yu. G. Kusrayev & M. Bayer

  2. Experimentelle Physik 2, Technische Universität Dortmund, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany

    V. L. Korenev, M. Salewski, I. A. Akimov, L. Langer, J. Debus, D. R. Yakovlev, D. Müller & M. Bayer

  3. Physical Faculty of St Petersburg State University, 198504 St Petersburg, Russia

    V. F. Sapega

  4. Experimentelle Physik 1, Facultät Physik/DELTA, Technische Universität Dortmund, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany

    C. Schröder & H. Hövel

  5. Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, PL-02668 Warsaw, Poland

    G. Karczewski, M. Wiater & T. Wojtowicz

Authors
  1. V. L. Korenev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Salewski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. A. Akimov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. V. F. Sapega
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. L. Langer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. I. V. Kalitukha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. J. Debus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R. I. Dzhioev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. D. R. Yakovlev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. D. Müller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. C. Schröder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. H. Hövel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. G. Karczewski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. M. Wiater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. T. Wojtowicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Yu. G. Kusrayev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. M. Bayer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

V.L.K., M.S., I.A.A., V.F.S., L.L., I.V.K., J.D., R.I.D. and D.M. performed the experiments and analysed the data. V.L.K. developed the theoretical model. C.S. and H.H. performed AFM measurements. G.K., M.W. and T.W. fabricated the samples. V.L.K., I.A.A., D.R.Y., Yu.G.K, and M.B. co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to V. L. Korenev or I. A. Akimov.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary information (PDF 1050 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Korenev, V., Salewski, M., Akimov, I. et al. Long-range p–d exchange interaction in a ferromagnet–semiconductor hybrid structure. Nature Phys 12, 85–91 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3497

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3497

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing