Investigation of a possible electronic phase separation in the magnetic semiconductors Ga1−xMnxAs and Ga1−xMnxP by means of fluctuation spectroscopy

We present systematic temperature-dependent resistance noise measurements on a series of ferromagnetic Ga1−xMnxAs epitaxial thin films covering a large parameter space in terms of the Mn content x and other variations regarding sample fabrication. We infer that the electronic noise is dominated by switching processes related to impurities in the entire temperature range. While metallic compounds with x>2% do not exhibit any significant change in the low-frequency resistance noise around the Curie temperature TC, we find indications for an electronic phase separation in films with x<2% in the vicinity of TC, manifesting itself in a maximum in the noise power spectral density. These results are compared with noise measurements on an insulating Ga1−xMnxP reference sample, for which the evidence for an electronic phase separation is even stronger and a possible percolation of bound magnetic polarons is discussed. Another aspect addressed in this work is the effect of ion-irradiation-induced disorder on the electronic properties of Ga1−xMnxAs films and, in particular, whether any electronic inhomogeneities can be observed in this case. Finally, we put our findings into the context of the ongoing debate on the electronic structure and the development of spontaneous magnetization in these materials.