Analysis of the Band-Structure in (Ga, Mn)As Epitaxial Layers by Optical Methods

Abstract

The ternary III-V semiconductor (Ga, Mn)As has recently drawn a lot of attention as the model diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor, combining semiconducting properties with magnetism. (Ga, Mn)As layers are usually gown by the low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy (LT-MBE) technique. Below a magnetic transition temperature, TC, substitutional Mn2+ ions are ferromagnetically ordered owing to interaction with spin-polarized holes. However, the character of electronic states near the Fermi energy and the electronic structure in ferromagnetic (Ga, Mn)As are still a matter of controversy. The photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopy was applied to study the band-structure evolution in (Ga, Mn)As layers with increasing Mn content. We have investigated thick (800-700 nm and 230-300 nm) (Ga, Mn)As layers with Mn content in the wide range from 0.001 % to 6 % and, as a reference, undoped GaAs layer, grown by LT-MBE on semiinsulating (001) GaAs substrates. Our findings were interpreted in terms of the model, which assumes that the mobile holes residing in the valence band of ferromagnetic (Ga, Mn)As and the Fermi level position determined by the concentration of valence-band holes. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/24917