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Ferromagnetic interfacial interaction and the proximity effect in a Co 2FeAl/(Ga,Mn)As Bilayer

  • S. H. Nie*
  • , Y. Y. Chin
  • , W. Q. Liu
  • , J. C. Tung
  • , J. Lu
  • , H. J. Lin
  • , G. Y. Guo
  • , K. K. Meng
  • , L. Chen
  • , L. J. Zhu
  • , D. Pan
  • , C. T. Chen
  • , Y. B. Xu
  • , W. S. Yan
  • , J. H. Zhao
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • CAS - Institute of Semiconductors
  • National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center Taiwan
  • University of York
  • National Chengchi University
  • National Taiwan University
  • University of Science and Technology of China

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

The magnetic properties of a Co2FeAl/(Ga,Mn)As bilayer epitaxied on GaAs (001) are studied both experimentally and theoretically. Unlike the common antiferromagnetic interfacial interaction existing in most ferromagnet-magnetic semiconductor bilayers, a ferromagnetic interfacial interaction in the Co2FeAl/(Ga,Mn)As bilayer is observed from measurements of magnetic hysteresis and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The Mn ions in a 1.36 nm thick (Ga,Mn)As layer remain spin polarized up to 400 K due to the magnetic proximity effect. The minor loops of the Co2FeAl/ (Ga,Mn)As bilayer shift with a small ferromagnetic interaction field of +24 Oe and -23 Oe at 15 K. The observed ferromagnetic interfacial coupling is supported by ab initio density functional calculations. These findings may provide a viable pathway for designing room-temperature semiconductor spintronic devices through magnetic proximity effect.

Original languageEnglish
Article number027203
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume111
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 09 07 2013
Externally publishedYes

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