Room-temperature ferromagnetic behaviour of InMnAs films grown by laser ablation technique

Abstract

InMnAs layers were fabricated by pulsed laser ablation of solid targets (Mn and InAs) in flow of hydrogen and arsine. The InMnAs layers with thickness ranging from 130 to 270 nm were deposited on semi-insulating GaAs (100) substrates at 320°C. The Mn quantity was controlled by changing ratio of sputtering time of Mn and InAs targets. The X-ray diffraction measurements identified the InMnAs as mosaic monocrystal with MnAs phase texture inclusions. Room temperature ferromagnetism of these InMnAs layers is evident from magnetometry and magneto-optical measurements. In addition, the InMnAs layers show anomalous Hall effect with the hysteresis loop and saturation magnetic field HS ≈ 2500 Oe at temperatures up to 300K depending on the Mn content. The Curie temperature higher than 300K allows using these magnetic semiconductor layers as a source of spin polarized carriers in room temperature spintronic devices. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.