Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

The fabrication of ferromagnetic semiconductors is one big step to realize spintronic devices. Beside GaAs:Mn also Ge:Mn is a very interesting material system [1-2]. Moreover, the lattice inversion symmetry of Ge leads to weak spin-orbit interaction and enhanced spin-lifetime and spin-diffusion lengths of more than 100 µm. This is shown in Ge nanowires at 4.2 K [3]. Also a spin diffusion up to 225 K could be shown in weakly n-doped Ge [4]. We investigated ferromagnetism in Ge:Mn thin films [5]. Hysteretic Hall resistance after Mn implantation and short-time pulsed laser annealing (PLA) has been observed. Similar to low temperature molecular beam epitaxy [1], the inhomogenous distribution of Mn inside the material has to be prevented. Especially after PLA, the Mn segregation leads to the formation of a Mn enriched surface layer. In our work, we performed layer-by-layer etching of ferromagnetic Ge:Mn and subsequent depth-resolved magnetotransport measurements. The hysteretic properties are vanishing after removing the segregated Mn-rich phases. In conclusion, we think that the hysteretic Hall resistance may have its origin in the scattering of spin-polarized holes on these Mn-rich phases. The vanishing hysteresis at 30 K can be interpreted by the increasing spin decoherence between the individual Mn rich clusters or/and the reduced magnetization of the clusters itself at increased temperature.